Professor Milena Sterio published a book review titled “The ‘End of Immunity’ for Leaders who Commit International Crimes?” on Lawfare Blog.  Lawfare is one of the most prestigious blogs in international law; book reviews are authored by expert invitation.  

Professor Sterio reviewed former International Criminal Court Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji’s book,  “The End of Immunity: Holding World Leaders Accountable for Aggression, Genocide, War Crimes, and Crimes Against Humanity” (Prometheus, 2024).  Judge Eboe-Osuji’s book espouses the view that customary international law rejects the principle of personal immunity before international criminal courts for sitting political and military leaders who commit atrocity crimes.  This view, which Judge Eboe-Osuji had adopted and advanced as an ICC judge, is shared by some scholars but rejected by others who argue that sitting heads-of-state waive immunity only if they are judged before an international tribunal whose jurisdiction their respective states have agreed to.  Judge Eboe-Osuji’s book addresses an important scholarly as well as practical topic.  It also provides a comprehensive historical analysis of various international negotiations, agreements, and other instruments as proof, according to Judge Eboe-Osuji, that customary law rejects personal immunity as a bar to prosecution of atrocity crimes before an international court.  

According to Professor Sterio’s review, “The strengths of ‘The End of Immunity’ lie in its elegant language, its thorough recounting of historical developments regarding immunity, and its passionate call to action for accountability for heads of state who commit atrocity crimes. It thus reflects Judge Eboe-Osuji’s long-standing quest to establish accountability for high-ranking officials and represents a kind of intellectual culmination of his career. In Eboe-Osuji’s words, “[a]ny argument for immunity of heads of state is effectively a protest against the judicial process[.]”