Strategic Litigation and Corporate Complicity in Crimes Under International Law (Routledge, 2024) provides a comprehensive account of how non-state actors rely on international criminal law as a tool in the service of progressive political causes.

The argument that international criminal law and its institutions serve as an instrument in the hands of a few powerful states, and that its practice is characterized by double standards and selectivity, has received considerable attention. This book, however, focuses on a practice that is informed by this argument. Its focus is on an alternative practice within international criminal law, where non-state actors navigate what critical scholars call a structurally biased legal system, in order to achieve long-term political objectives. Innovatively, the book combines the concerns expressed by Third World Approaches to International Law with strategic litigation that focuses on the accountability of corporations for their complicity in crimes under international law. Analysing this litigation, the book demonstrates that, while it is crucial to highlight the blind spots of the international criminal legal framework, it is also important to take into account the practice of non-state actors engaged in leveraging its emancipatory potential.

This original analysis of the implementation and legitimacy of international criminal law will be of interest to a wide range of scholars and activists working in relevant areas of law, politics, criminology and international relations.

In her talk,  Kalika Mehta, Lecturer and Postdoctoral Researcher at Humboldt University of Berlin presented her book as well as her current research. Her presentation was then commented on by Shahd Hammouri, Lecturer in Law, University of Kent, Grietje Baars, Reader in Law & Social Change, University of London and Tor Krever, Assistant Professor in International Law, University of Cambridge and the event was moderated by Lys Kulamadayil, SNSF Ambizione Fellow, Graduate Institute.

This event was part of the ‘Law by Colour Code: Locating Race and Racism in International Law’ project funded by the Swiss National Sciences Foundation (SNSF).

Watch the video recording of the event below.