Online ISSN: 2671-3659
Print ISSN: 2671-3675
2021
Biannual
Balkan Studies Foundation
North Macedonia

Articles

By Any Other Name: Expressive Implications of Reconceptualizing an International Crime as Another through the Examples of Ecocide and Aggression

  • Vera Piovesan (Author) European Forensic Institute
DOI
https://doi.org/10.51331/A061
How to Cite
By Any Other Name: Expressive Implications of Reconceptualizing an International Crime as Another through the Examples of Ecocide and Aggression. (2025). Journal of Balkan Studies, 5(Special Issue), 109-128. https://doi.org/10.51331/A061
The progressive development of international criminal law is part of a long tradition. International criminal norms have evolved in a process focused on expanding the protection of the underlying values of the system and its anti-impunity agenda. This has also implied the strategic classification of ambiguous underlying acts under different crimes depending on prosecutorial or institutional considerations. However, this article observes a different recent trend in academic discourse, in which an international crime is fully reconceptualized as another in order to overcome jurisdictional limitations. Ecocide and aggression are identified as the primary examples emerging in legal literature. In the case of the former, the reconceptualization proposals have been met with support by the International Criminal Court itself. In the case of aggression, the proposals remain very marginal in legal discourse. This article examines this trend through the lens of expressivism, thus exploring its promises and perils in terms of communicative impact, and it argues that such reconceptualization conveys some problematic messages that warrant further analysis.
References

Akhavan, P. (2012). Reducing Genocide to Law: Definition, Meaning, and the Ultimate Crime. Cambridge University Press.

Amann. (2002a). Group Mentality, Expressivism, and Genocide. International Criminal Law Review, 2(2), 93–143. https://doi.org/10.1163/157181202400454709

Amann. (2002b). Group Mentality, Expressivism, and Genocide. International Criminal Law Review, 2(2), 93–143. https://doi.org/10.1163/157181202400454709

Badagard, L., & Klamberg, M. (2016). The Gatekeeper of the ICC - Prosecutorial Strategies for Selecting Situations and Cases at the International Criminal Court. Georgetown Journal of International Law, 48, 639–733. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2784470

Bassiouni, M. C. (2011). Crimes against Humanity. Historical Evolution and Contemporary Application. Cambridge University Press.

Berat, L. (1993). Defending the Right to a Healthy Environment: Toward a Crime of Geocide in International Law. Boston University International Law Journal, 11, 327–348.

Bergsmo, M., Buis, E. J., & Tianying, S. (2022). Protected Interests in International Criminal Law. In M. Bergsmo, E. J. Buis, & T. SONG (Eds.), Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law: Legally-Protected Interests. Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher.

Cho, B.-S. (2000). Emergence of an International Environmental Criminal Law? UCLA Journal of Environmental Law and Policy, 19(1). https://doi.org/10.5070/L5191019216

Crook, M., & Short, D. (2021). Developmentalism and the Genocide–Ecocide Nexus. Journal of Genocide Research, 23(2), 162–188.

Cusato, E., & Jones, E. (2024). The ‘imbroglio’ of ecocide: A political economic analysis. Leiden Journal of International Law, 37(1), 42–61. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0922156523000468

Dana, S. (2013). The Limits of Judicial Idealism: Should the International Criminal Court Engage with Consequentialist Aspirations? SSRN Electronic Journal. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.2205172

Dannenbaum, T. (2022). A Special Tribunal for the Crime of Aggression? Journal of International Criminal Justice, 20(4), 859–873.

Darcy, S., & Powderly, J. (2010). Judicial Creativity at the International Criminal Tribunals. Oxford University Press.

deGuzman, M. M. (2012). Choosing to Prosecute: Expressive Selection at the International Criminal Court. Michigan Journal of International Law, 33(2), 265–320.

Dinstein, Y. (2018). War, Aggression and Self-Defence (6th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Drumbl, M. A. (2007a). Atrocity, Punishment, and International Law. Cambridge University Press.

Drumbl, M. A. (2007b). The Expressive Value of Prosecuting and Punishing Terrorists: Hamdan, the Geneva Conventions, and International Criminal Law. George Washington Law Review, 75, 1175.

Drumbl, M. A. (2009). The Push to Criminalize Aggression: Something Lost Amid the Gains? Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, 41(2), 291–319. https://doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.1301003

Eichler, L. J. (2020). Ecocide Is Genocide: Decolonizing the Definition of Genocide. Genocide Studies and Prevention, 14(2), 104–121. https://doi.org/10.5038/1911-9933.14.2.1720

Falk, R. A. (1973). Environmental Warfare and Ecocide—Facts, Appraisal, and Proposals. Revue Belge de Driot International, 9(1), 1-27C.

Feinberg, J. (1965). The Expressive Function of Punishment. The Monist, 49, 397.

Ferencz, B. B. (2015). The Illegal Use Of Armed Force As A Crime Against Humanity. Journal on the Use of Force and International Law, 2(2), 187–198. https://doi.org/10.1080/20531702.2015.1092705

Fisher, K. J. (2012). Moral Accountability and International Criminal Law. Routledge.

Gillett, M. (2024). Ecocide, environmental harm and framework integration at the International Criminal Court. The International Journal of Human Rights, 0(0), 1–37. https://doi.org/10.1080/13642987.2024.2433660

Gray, M. A. (1996). The International Crime of Ecocide. California Western International Law Journal, 26(2), 215–271. https://doi.org/10.4324/9781315092591-12

Greene, A. (2019). The Campaign to Make Ecocide an International Crime: Quixotic Quest or Moral Imperative? Fordham Environmental Law Review, 30(3), 1–48.

Grzebyk, P. (2023). Crime of Aggression against Ukraine. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 21(3), 435–459. https://doi.org/10.1093/jicj/mqad035

Gurmendi Dunkelberg, A. (2025). How to Hide a Genocide: Modern/Colonial International Law and the Construction of Impunity. Journal of Genocide Research, 0(0), 1–24. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623528.2025.2454739

Higgins, P., Short, D., & South, N. (2013). Protecting the Planet: A Proposal for a Law of Ecocide. Crime, Law, and Social Change, 59, 251–266.

Koller, D. S. (2008). The Faith of the International Criminal Lawyer. New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, 40, 1019–1069.

Kress, C. (2018). On the Activation of ICC Jurisdiction over the Crime of Aggression. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 16(1), 1–17.

Lawrence, J. C., & Heller, K. J. (2007). The Limits of Article 8(2)(b)(iv) of the Rome Statute, the First Ecocentric Environmental War Crime. Georgetown International Environmental Law Review, 20, 1–40.

Lemkin, R. (1944). Axis Rule in Occupied Europe: Laws of Occupation—Analysis of Government—Proposals for Redress. Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

Lopez, A. (2007). Criminal Liability for Environmental Damage Occurring in Times of Non-International Armed COnflict: Rihgts and Remedies. Fordham Environmental Law Review, 18(2), 231–271.

Luban, D. (2004). A Theory of Crimes Against Humanity. Yale Journal of International Law, 85–167.

MacKinnon, C. (2006). Defining Rape Internationally. A Comment on Akayesu. Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, 44, 940.

Majola, B. C. (2015). Cumulative Charges under International Criminal Law. In C. C. Jalloh & A. B. Marong (Eds.), Promoting Accountability under International Law for Gross Human Rights Violations in Africa. Essays in Honour of Prosecutor Hassan Bubacar Jallow. Brill.

McDonald, G. K. (2001). The International Criminal Tribunals: Crime & Punishment in the International Arena. Nova Law Review, 25(1), 463–484.

McDougall, C. (2021). The Crime of Aggression under the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

McDougall, C. (2022, March 8). Prosecuting Putin for His Crime of Aggression against Ukraine: Part One. Oxford Human Rights Hub. https://ohrh.law.ox.ac.uk/prosecuting-putin-for-his-crime-of-aggression-against-ukraine-part-one/

Mégret, F. (2023). Why Prosecuting Aggression in Ukraine as a Crime Against Humanity Might Make Sense. Journal of Conflict and Security Law, 28(3), 467–499. https://doi.org/10.1093/jcsl/krad009

Meron, T. (2000). The Humanization of Humanitarian Law. American Journal of International Law, 94(2), 239–278.

Meron, T. (Ed.). (2006). The humanization of international law. Martinus Nijhoff.

Mettraux, G. (2006). International Crimes and the Ad Hoc Tribunals (1st ed.). Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199207541.001.0001

Minkova, L. G. (2023). The Fifth International Crime: Reflections on the Definition of “Ecocide”. Journal of Genocide Research, 25(1), 62–83. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623528.2021.1964688

Minkova, L. G. (2024). Ecocide, Sustainable Development and Critical Environmental Law Insights. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 22(1), 81–97. https://doi.org/10.1093/jicj/mqae006

Nouwen, S. (2016). International Criminal Law: Theory All Over the Place. In A. Orford, F. Hoffmann, & M. Clark (Eds.), The Oxford handbook of the theory of international law. Oxford University Press.

Osiel, M. (1997). Mass Atrocity, Collective Memory, and the Law. Transaction Publishers.

Pinzauti, G., & Pizzuti, A. (2023). Prosecuting Aggression against Ukraine as an ‘Other Inhumane Act’ before the ICC. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 20(5), 1061–1083. https://doi.org/10.1093/jicj/mqac058

Pobjie, E. (2024). Prohibited Force: The Meaning of ‘Use of Force’ in International Law (1st ed.). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781009022897

Robinson, D., Vasiliev, S., Van Sliedregt, E., & Oosterveld, V. (2024). An Introduction to International Criminal Law and Procedure (5th ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Sácouto, S. (2011). Amicus Curiae Brief on the Practice of Cumulative Charging Before International Criminal Bodies Submitted to the Appeals Chamber of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Pursuant to Rule 131 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence. Criminal Law Forum, 22(3), 409–432. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10609-011-9148-y

Sander, B. (2018). Justifying International Criminal Punishment: A Critical Perspective. In M. Bergsmo & E. J. Buis (Eds.), Philosophical Foundations of International Criminal Law: Foundational Concepts. Torkel Opsahl Academic EPublisher.

Sander, B. (2019). The expressive turn of international criminal justice: A field in search of meaning. Leiden Journal of International Law, 32(4), 851–872. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0922156519000335

Schabas, W. A. (2008). State Policy as an Element of International Crimes. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 98(3).

Schabas, W. A. (2009). Genocide in International Law. The Crime of Crimes (2nd ed.). Cambridge University Press.

Sloane, R. D. (2007). The Expressive Capacity of International Punishment: The Limits of the Mational Law Analogy and the Potential of International Criminal Law. Stanford Journal of International Law, 43, 39.

Smith, T. (2013). Creating a Framework for the Prosecution of Environmental Crimes in International Criminal Law. In W. Y. McDermott (Ed.), The Ashgate Research Companion to International Criminal Law. Ashgate.

Stahn, C. (2012). Between ‘Faith’ and ‘Facts’: By What Standards Should We Assess International Criminal Justice? Leiden Journal of International Law, 25(2), 251–282. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0922156512000027

Stahn, C. (2019). A Critical Introduction to International Criminal Law. Cambridge University Press.

Stahn, C. (2020). Justice as Message. Oxford University Press.

Sterio, M. (2024). Crimes Against the Environment, Ecocide, and the International Criminal Court. Case Western Reserve Journal of International Law, 56, 223–238.

Sunstein, C. R. (1996). On the Expressive Function of Law. University of Pennsylvania Law Review, 144(5), 2021. https://doi.org/10.2307/3312647

Swart, M. (2010). Judicial Lawmaking at the ad hoc Tribunals: The Creative Use of the Sources of International Law and “Adventurous Interpretation”. Zeitschrift Für Ausländisches Öffentliches Recht Und Völkerrecht, 70, 459–486.

Taggart, J. (2014). Ecocide: A Worthy “Fifth Crime Against Peace”? The Journal of Law Society of Scotland, 17(1), 3–7.

Tallgren, I. (2002). The Sensibility and Sense of International Criminal Law. European Journal of International Law, 13(3), 561–595. https://doi.org/10.1093/ejil/13.3.561

Tan, C. (2013). Punishing Aggression as a Crime Against Humanity: A Noble but Inadequate Measure to Safeguard International Peace and Security. American University Law Review, 29(1), 145–164.

Ventura, M. J., & Gillett, M. (2013). The Fog of War: Prosecuting Illegal Use of Force as Crimes Against Humanity. Washington University Global Studies Law Review, 12, 523–538.

Weinstein, T. (1995). Prosecuting Attacks that Destroy the Environment: Environmental Crimes or Humanitarian Atrocities? Georgetown International Environmental Law Review, 17(4), 697–722.

Winter, E. (2024). Stop Ecocide International’s Blueprint for Ecocide Is Compromised by Anthropocentrism: A New Architect Must Be Found. Israel Law Review, 57(1), 175–209. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021223722000218

Wise, L. (2021). The Genocide-Ecocide Nexus in Sudan: Violent “Development” and the Racial-Spatial Dynamics of (Neo)Colonial-Capitalist Extraction. Journal of Genocide Research, 23(2), 189–211. https://doi.org/10.1080/14623528.2021.1887057

Wringe, B. (2016). An Expressive Theory of Punishment. Palgrave Macmillan UK. https://doi.org/10.1057/9781137357120

Zierler, D. (2011). The Invention of Ecocide: Agent Orange, Vietnam, and the Scientists Who Changed the Way We Think About the Environment. The University of Georgia Press.

There are 73 references in total.
License
Creative Commons License

Copyright (c) 2025 Vera Piovesan (Author)
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.

View Volume 5 - Special Issue (June 2025)

Volume 5 - Special Issue (June 2025)

Article Information

  • File Downloads 73
  • Abstract Views 92
  • Altmetrics
  • Share
Download data is not yet available.