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This chapter explores the nature of military law and IHL during the cold war period. It explores what treaties were completed, Additional Protocols I and II of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, the ad hoc international tribunals of the 1990s and 2000s, and examines the ICJ’s ruling of the legality of nuclear weapons.

This chapter examines World War II and its impact on international and military law. It covers the war’s key crimes, the Nürnberg and Tokyo tribunals, and the creation of the United Nations, the Four Geneva Conventions of 1949, and the Genocide Convention of 1948.

This chapter discusses the creation, structure, and functioning of the International Criminal Court. It also examines its operations to date and addresses many contemporary criticisms of the court.

This chapter examines how the nature of World War I catalyzed significant changes in the laws of war, the Treaty of Versailles, the failed Leipzig Trials, and the multiple treaties enacted in the 1920s, with particular focus on the Geneva Convention of 1929.

The purpose of this study is to examine the recruitment practice of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the Czech Republic to learn whether it encourages or discourages former offenders from attempting to attain work after release.

A qualitative approach was taken to understand the perspective of SME company owners and decision-makers within the Czech Republic. In all, 25 semi-structured interviews were conducted which examined the current recruitment practice and individual attitudes towards employing former offenders.

Through a change of employer perception, working with support agencies and amending recruitment practice, opportunities can be created for former offenders in the workplace to assist their rehabilitation. This would assist with overcoming employer attitudes which have little sense of responsibility to helping former offenders with reintegration through employment. Recruitment practices focus heavily on past accomplishments and the existence of a criminal record which can disincentivise former offenders from applying for work because of their stigmatised identity. Prior experience with offenders can lead to a change of attitude and offers a vector for changing employer attitudes. In combination with linkage to agencies which work with former offenders, small businesses could amend their recruitment practice and provide support for former offenders on their rehabilitation journey.

This study is based on a limited sample size, only 25 responses, and the need for translation from English to Czech could have led to a loss of nuance in the responses gathered. With asynchronous interviews also being used, some brief responses limited the insight which could have been gained.

The findings of this study highlight areas of practice which can be amended to better attract former offenders, being future-focused rather than past-focused.

Enhancing employment opportunities for former offenders would be a major enhancer for their reintegration efforts and lower the associated social costs to society.

Prior research has been conducted into the offender experience, with recruiter/owner receiving far less attention. Most prior studies have been quantitative in nature, with few using a qualitative approach.

This chapter focuses on the US Civil War of 1861–1864, the application of the laws of war to a civil war, and gives great attention to US Army General Order 100 (aka The Lieber Code), the first set of laws to direct and constrain the behavior of troops in the field.

Recent developments in the EU’s anti-corruption strategy have brought the EU closer to meeting the UNCAC’s objectives, i.e. the Proposal for a Directive on combating corruption (2023) and the Proposal for a Directive on Asset Recovery and Confiscation (2022). This paper aims to discuss these developments from the perspective of the UNCAC, to identify missing elements in the EU’s asset recovery mechanisms.

Critical approach towards EU anti-corruption policy (discussing the problems and solutions). Review of EU developments in asset recovery law.

There is a political will on the part of the EU to fight corruption through the rules enshrined in the UNCAC. However, improving EU law by introducing a new type of confiscation of unexplained wealth and criminalising illicit enrichment, without establishing convergent rules for the return of corrupt assets from EU territory to the countries of origin, cannot be seen as sufficient action to achieve the UNCAC’s objectives. In modelling mechanisms of the return of assets, the EU should search for solutions to overcome the difficulties resulting from the ordre public clause remaining a significant factor conditioning mutual legal assistance.

This paper discusses the possible input of the EU, as a non-State Party to the UNCAC, to advance implementing the UNCAC solutions on asset recovery by establishing convergent rules for the return of corrupt assets from EU territory to countries of origin.

In the past decade, there has been an increase in the number of people facing criminal proceedings related to the traditional use of the coca leaf in Spain. The profile of the defendants, in general, is similar: a migrant person, coming from a country where the traditional and cultural use of the coca leaf is widespread and legal, with few resources and contacts in Spain, and with little knowledge of the criminal justice system. The penalty requests they face are disproportionate, taking into account that they usually involve small quantities of leaves, intended for personal and traditional use. For a decade, the NGO International Center for Ethnobotanical Education, Research, and Service (ICEERS) has offered support to the legal defence of people facing charges for the traditional use of the coca leaf. This paper aims to offer a general overview and analysis of this work, within the framework of which the authors have deployed various arguments for the defence: the historical error represented by the international (and national) prohibition of the coca leaf, the frictions with the rights of migrants, as well as the questioning of the toxicological analysis methods that accompany the opening of these procedures.

This work is based on the analysis of the information contained in ICEERS’ database and the rulings of both the first instance courts and the Supreme Court. It includes, among other issues, the characteristics of these cases and some trends that the authors have identified. Based on this, some recommendations are offered for better political and judicial management of this social phenomenon.

The efforts by the authors have made possible the considerable reduction of some sentences, as well as greater understanding by justice system operators about the phenomenon of coca leaf traditional uses beyond native contexts. However, it is necessary to complement this work with a more political and international strategy within the debates on drug policy reform. Along with a review of the scientific evidence by the WHO, which adjusts the international control of coca leaf to the reality of the knowledge currently available, greater dialogue with affected communities and the involvement of governments of the countries of origin of the defendants are essential. This could be achieved through the involvement of the consulates or representatives of these communities in Spain, as well as by opening a space in the bilateral agendas. Finally, there is an urgent need for recognition by the international community that the traditional uses of psychoactive plants are no longer limited to certain geographies or populations, but are part of the collective knowledge of an interconnected world.

This paper is based on the authors’ own experience of more than ten years accompanying the defence of these type of cases.