This second edition focuses on the drafting and subsequent interpretation of the 1948 Genocide Convention.

William A. Schabas OC MRIA is Director of the Irish Centre for Human Rights and Professor of Human Rights Law at the National University of Ireland, Galway. The author of many books and journal articles on the subject of international rights law, Professor Schabas has served as an international member of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission (2002 to 2004). He is also a member of the Board of Trustees of the United Nations Voluntary Fund for Technical Assistance in the Field of Human Rights, an Officer of the Order of Canada and a Member of the Royal Irish Academy.

1. Origins of the legal prohibition of genocide; 2. Drafting of the Convention and subsequent normative developments; 3. Groups protected by the Convention; 4. The physical element or actus reus of genocide; 5. The mental element or mens rea of genocide; 6. 'Other acts' of genocide; 7. Defences to genocide; 8. Prosecution of genocide by international and domestic tribunals; 9. State responsibility and the role of the International Court of Justice; 10. Prevention of genocide; 11. Treaty law questions and the Convention; Appendix. The three principal drafts of the Convention.