Abstract/Summary

Despite their fundamental importance in the effective prosecution of international crimes, inter-state judicial cooperation regimes have long been overlooked. However, two new initiatives have recently emerged. The first is the International Law Commission’s Draft Articles on Crimes Against Humanity (Draft Articles), which aims to create a global convention on prevention, punishment and inter-State cooperation with respect to crimes against humanity. The second initiative, the Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty for core crimes (MLA Treaty), is wider in scope. It encompasses genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity and seeks the conclusion of a multilateral cooperation treaty to enable the effective provision of mutual legal assistance and extradition of suspects in relation to these crimes. The aim of this article is to critically assess the merits and shortcomings of these two initiatives in the effort to enhance inter-state cooperation in the prosecution of international crimes and their abilities to remedy current problems.