Straftheorien im Völkerstrafrecht

The study addresses the purpose and the legitimation of punishment in International Criminal Law and thereby faces a central theoretical lacuna of the internatioal criminal justice system. How can we rationalize the fact that not only the constitutionalized state but the – at best sectorally constitutionalized – international community makes use of criminal punishment? After analyzing the retributive, preventive and expressive theories of punishment in detail the author developes his own discrete conception based on human dignity. It aims to pave the way for a rational and individualized answer to the core crimes of international law. By integrating not only the justification but also the restriction of punishment the author points to modes of judicial communication which seek to avoid an exclusionary, international "enemy criminal law“.