ABSTRACT
Before attempting to explain international criminal law, we must discuss its origins and how it is defined. As discussed earlier, there is neither a universally accepted written international criminal law, nor any form of enforcement. Instead, international criminal law is composed of a series of agreements between countries and relies almost entirely on selfregulation. A country that does not recognize a treaty does not necessarily have to follow its guidelines. This makes the concept of an international criminal law difficult to explore, but not impossible. Enough countries have agreed to follow enough treaties to begin the formulation of an international criminal law that can be understood as such. Major treaties such as the Geneva Convention and the Maastricht Treaty, as well as several other international agreements adopted at different junctures in history have effectively established what we now understand as international criminal law.
