6 - Not Much, but Better than Nothing – Purposes of Punishment in International Criminal Law

Summary

Kai Ambos takes up the question of the domestic analogy ‘proper’ and raises the question of whether a right to punish can exist without a state, and answers it in the affirmative. When it comes to what Elies van Sliedregt would call the domestic analogy ‘of transplants’, he is less sceptical: In his view, international criminal law can very well borrow and import concepts from domestic law, albeit it should not be done too schematically and there might be some limits. As regards sentencing, Ambos emphasizes the important of concrete sentencing factors and a transparent sentencing procedure, but in his view theories of punishment have no influence on the outcome.