The second volume of the Digest of Latin American jurisprudence on international crimes is an update to the first one, published in 2010. This volume collects and analyzes innovative judgments from national courts that have applied international law in the prosecution of international crimes. Both works, written by Professor Ximena Medellín in coordination with DPLF, constitute a groundbreaking systematization of judicial decisions that approach the criminal prosecution of international crimes in several Latin American countries from the perspective of international law.

The judgments included in this second volume reflect important developments in Latin American jurisprudence, on issues that had been examined almost exclusively from the case law of the international courts, and include a more extensive treatment of the theories of imputation—particularly co-perpetration and perpetration-by-means—and more specific discussions about the elements of the crimes. This volume also contains judgments that deal with issues that had not previously been addressed by the courts in the region, such as the commission of sex crimes, forced displacement, and the recruitment or conscription of minors.

The Digest includes remarks form Naomi Roht-Arriaza, professor and international expert on transitional justice, as well as President of DPLF’s Board of Directors on the role of national courts as actors in challenging and defeating impunity.

With this Digest DPLF is helping to disseminate emblematic judgments from Latin American courts, as well as contributing to the development and/or consolidation of new legal arguments and to academic debate and reflection on the possibilities for obtaining justice for the crimes committed at horrible times in the history of different countries in the Americas.