Main Development Trends in International Criminal Law: From the Origins of the Concept to the Present

Vadym Popko1 & Yevgen Popko2

Abstract
This study investigated the theoretical and legal foundations of the development of international criminal law and identified its main trends. The development principles of international criminal law and the factors that influenced the establishment of international criminal law were analysed. The concept of international criminal law and the changes that describe its development was investigated. International law, which constitutes a system of
legal principles and provisions, forms an established mechanism of action of its structure, which is expressed in the interaction and consistency of its elements, is aimed at regulating interstate relations to ensure peace and cooperation. International law exists as an objective sophisticated regulatory system that was formed in the course of long historical development and continues to develop intensively. As a regulatory mechanism, the system of international law makes provision for the ability to establish systemically important international legal relations, as well as systems of relations between its elements. Among the numerous trends in the development of international criminal law, the following are distinguished and analysed: the trend of separation of international criminal law as an independent branch of international law; the convergence of national legal systems and the constant implementation of the provisions of international criminal law; the trend of internationalisation of international criminal law; the trend of development of international criminal justice.

Keywords: concept of international criminal law, internationalisation, convergence of national legal systems, international criminal justice.