The Contribution of the Eichmann Trial to International Law
![handle is hein.journals/lejint26 and id is 694 raw text is:
Leiden Journal ofinternational Law (2013), 26, pp. 667-699
Q Foundation of the Leiden Journal of International LaW 2013 doi:Io.1o17/S922 156513000290
HAGUE INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNALS
INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURTS AND
TRIBUNALS
The Contribution of the Eichmann Trial
to International Law
WILLIAM SCHABAS OC MRIA*
Abstract
The trial of Adolf Eichmann was poorly received by many contemporary observers, who felt
that it bent the law beyond recognition in several key areas. With the renaissance of interna-
tional criminal law in recent decades, the handling of difficult issues by the District Court of
Jerusalem and the Supreme Court has been shown to fare rather well. The understanding of
the relationship between crimes against humanity and genocide by the Israeli courts, and their
response to the charge of retroactive criminality, to the consequences of the kidnapping, and
to claims that the tribunal lacked impartiality, have also stood the test of time. Perhaps most
important of all, the Eichmann decisions actually moved the law forward on the question of
universal jurisdiction, effectively setting aside the narrow jurisdictional frame set by the 1948
Genocide Convention. Critics at the time of the judgments, possibly influenced by the famous
but harsh commentary of Hannah Arendt, were much too negative in their assessments.
Key words
Eichmann; universal jurisdiction; retroactivity; crimes against humanity; male captus bene
detentus
I. INTRODUCTION
The Eichmann trial is important in the history of international criminal law for
several reasons. Eichmann is the first reported judgment based upon the provisions of
the 1948 Convention for the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
It was the first conviction for crimes against humanity committed in peacetime.
Although universal jurisdiction had long been accepted and exercised with respect
to certain types of international or transnational crimes, such as piracy, this was its
first use for an atrocity crime. The trial addressed other difficult issues that have
vexed national and international judges to this day, such as exercise of jurisdiction
* Professor of International Law, Middlesex University, London; Professor of International Criminal Law and
Human Rights, Leiden University; Emeritus Professor of Human Rights Law, National University of Ireland,
Galway [w.schabas@mdx.ac.uk].](ViewImageLocal?handle=hein.journals/lejint26&div=49&collection=&method=preview&ext=.png&size=3)
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The Contribution of the Eichmann Trial to International Law
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