Theodor Meron and the Humanization of International Law

The chapter explores legal life-writing as a method of history within the context of international criminal law. It offers a biographical sketch of Theodor Meron and discusses some of his major works and especially his humanization thesis in light of the structural changes that occurred in the international legal order after the end of the Cold War. This account serves a triple function. The first is to draw a linkage between Meron’s scholarly works and certain developments in international criminal law. The second is to offer a critical perspective on the humanization thesis. The third is to ask questions about human agency, structural constraints, and historical causality in a self-reflective manner. Thus apart from being a work of legal life-writing in itself, the chapter simultaneously seeks to highlight the strengths and weaknesses of this form of history.