Introduction

The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) has caused considerable loss of life, bodily injury, and destruction of property and infrastructure in the Middle East since its emergence in 2013. The 1993 Principles for the Protection and Promotion of Human Rights through Action to Combat Impunity which were adopted by the UN Commission on Human Rights defined impunity as the failure to provide 'appropriate penalties' for the individual affected by the breach in question. This chapter provides an overview of this book. The book considers whether terrorist attacks constitute an international crime within the current subject-matter jurisdiction of the ICC. It proceeds to elaborate the basis for amending the Rome Statute to include a crime of transnational terrorism in light of the recent pronouncement of the Appeals Chamber of the STL. The book concludes by outlining the constituent elements of the emerging crime of transnational terrorism.