Foreword

Abstract

Although none of the Scandinavian countries have had armed conflicts on their soil since the Second World War, there are in Scandinavia at present war criminals, and witnesses and victims of atrocity crimes. The crimes have been committed in different situations outside Scandinavia and it is only lately that the investigation and prosecution of these crimes have gained adequate attention.

This is the foreword to a volume that presents 21 articles on the investigation and prosecution in Scandinavia of international crimes. The foreword explains the metholdogy, i.e. that the articles present decisions and cases tried at domestic level in a thematic manner, by examining some overarching questions. For instance, to what extent and how international law sources are considered and/or implemented in the Scandinavian countries and how the objectives of international criminal law are operationalized in relation to the issue at handbrought into action. The volume is organized into five sections: Introduction, General Principles and Matters of Criminal Law, International Crimes, Procedural Matters, and Comparative Outlook.

Considering that countries outside Scandinavia have already, or will, meet similar challenges; the need to exchange experience and scrutinize one’s own assumptions will remain. Thus the foreward makes a call to undertake comparative study of the domestic investigation and prosecution of international crimes, asking how different countries sanction international crimes.

Keywords: International crimes, domestic implementation