International criminal law is a body of public international law designed to prohibit certain categories of conduct commonly viewed as serious atrocities and to make perpetrators of such conduct criminally accountable for their perpetration. The core crimes under international law are genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, and the crime of aggression. "Classical" international law governs the relationships, rights, and responsibilities of states. Criminal law generally deals with prohibitions addressed to individuals, and penal sanctions for violation of those prohibition imposed by individual states. International criminal law comprises elements of both in that although its sources are those of international law, its consequences are penal sanctions imposed on individuals. The International Criminal Court is a permanent tribunal Tribunal in the general sense is any person or institution with the authority to judge, adjudicate on, or determine claims or disputes whether or not it is called a tribunal in its title. For example, an advocate appearing before a Court on which a single Judge was sitting could describe that judge as 'their tribunal'. Many governmental bodies that are titled tribunals are so described to emphasize the fact that they are not courts of normal jurisdiction. This market leading book gives an authoritative account of international criminal law, and focuses on what the student needs to know - the crimes that are dealt with by international courts and tribunals as well as the procedures that police the investigation and prosecution of these crimes.