The Contribution of Comparative Law to a Pluralist Conception of International Criminal Law

A pluralist conception of international criminal law requires an encounter between comparative law, understood as a method for cross‐fertilizing and developing the system of international criminal justice, and the body of positive international criminal law. There are two main contributions the comparative method brings to international criminal law. On the one hand, comparative law, which incorporates national legal principles into international criminal law, is a necessary accompaniment to the deepening processes of hybridization. At the same time, it brings a subsidiary effect as national criminal laws are harmonized with the principles of international law. Employment of the comparative method must go beyond simple juxtaposition: it requires creative re‐composition through the search for a synthesis of diverse legal systems. The comparative method has the potential to promote a more pluralist, universal conception of international criminal law, that would neither lead to relativism, nor be based on legal imperialism.