The modern use of international tribunals to try heads of state for genocide and crimes against humanity is often considered a positive development. Many people think that the establishment of special courts to prosecute notorious dictators represents a triumph of law over impunity. In A History of Political Trials, John Laughland takes a very different and controversial view. He shows that trials of heads of state are in fact not new, and that previous trials throughout history have themselves violated the law and due process. It is the historical account which carries the argument. By examining trials of heads of state and government throughout history - figures as different as Charles I, Louis XVI, Erich Honecker, Saddam Hussein and Charles Taylor - Laughland shows that modern trials of heads of state have ugly historical precedents. In their different ways, all the trials he describes were marked by arbitrariness and injustice, and many were gross exercises in hypocrisy. Political trials, he finds, are only the continuation of war by other means. With short and easy chapters, but the fruit of formidable erudition and wide reading, this book will force the general reader to re-examine prevailing opinions on this subject.
Product Identifiers
Publisher
Peter Lang Ltd
ISBN-13
9781906165529
eBay Product ID (ePID)
222262159
Product Key Features
Author
John Laughland
Publication Name
A History of Political Trials: from Charles I to Charles Taylor
Format
Paperback
Language
English
Subject
Law, Government, History
Publication Year
2016
Type
Textbook
Number of Pages
352 Pages
Dimensions
Item Height
225mm
Item Width
150mm
Item Weight
501g
Additional Product Features
Title_Author
John Laughland
Country/Region of Manufacture
United Kingdom
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