ABSTRACT
International criminal law (ICL) constitutes the fusion of two legal disciplines: international law and domestic criminal law. While it is true that one may discern certain criminal law elements in the science of international law, it is certainly not the totality of these elements that make up the discipline of ICL. Its existence is dependent on the sources and processes of international law, as it is these sources and processes that initially create it and ultimately define it. This can be illustrated by examining any one of the acknowledged international offences. Piracy jure gentium, for example, exists simultaneously as a crime under customary international law, as well as treaty law, specifically the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).1
