The Crime of Aggression: International Justice in an Age of Drones, Cyberattacks, Insurgents, and Autocrats
The Katharine A. Pearson Chair in Civil Society and Public Policy welcomes Noah Weisbord, BCL/LLB-MSW'03, Associate Professor of Law, Queen’s University.
Abstract
Noah Weisbord, author of The Crime of Aggression: The Quest for Justice in an Age of Drones, Cyberattacks, Insurgents, and Autocrats (Princeton UP, June 2019), will provide a behind-the-scenes account of the dramatic legal fight to hold leaders personally responsible for aggressive war. On July 17, 2018, starting an unjust war became a prosecutable international crime alongside genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes. Instead of collective state responsibility, our leaders are now personally subject to indictment for crimes of aggression, from invasions and preemptions, to drone strikes and cyberattacks.
This lecture is Weisbord’s insider’s account of the legal fight to enact this historic legislation and hold politicians accountable for the wars they start. He will shed light on the motivations of the prosecutors, diplomats, and military strategists who championed the fledgling prohibition on unjust war—and those who tried to sink it. The power to try leaders for unjust war holds untold promise for the international order, but also great risk. Weisbord will argue that in an age of drones, cyberattacks, insurgents, and autocrats, leadership responsibility for illegal war is more crucial than ever.
About the speaker
Noah Weisbord is an Associate Professor at Queen's Law. His research focuses on the role of the criminal law in managing, reflecting or exacerbating intergroup conflict. A current project examines self-defence in Canadian criminal law from historical, comparative, and conceptual perspectives. Noah is a leading expert on the crime of aggression—individual criminal responsibility for aggressive war—and he assisted diplomatic delegations to define the crime. He has served on the International Criminal Court’s working group that drafted the crime of aggression.
This event is eligible for inclusion as 1.5 hours of continuing legal education as reported by members of the Barreau du Québec.
