Named the most popular book in the UN library in 2015

Generally, the UN library is used by the Secretariat, UN staff and representatives only for intra-departmental needs.It contains a huge number of books on economics, law, international relations, as well as archives of the organization's documents. However, today, when any news is in the light of the media, even the UN library has become the center of public attention. The United Nations has named the book most frequently accessed by workers in 2015, is the publication entitled Immunities of Heads of State and Civil Servants from Crimes in War.

The topic of the book caused a wide response from the press and the public. Many asked the question: "Why did the officials of the countries of the world need this information and what could it threaten?" One well-known journalist commented on the news: "If the UN is full of representatives of countries with dictatorial regimes of government, and the book that interests them most about impunity for war crimes... well, I have bad news for you!"

This book is not a UN document, but a doctoral dissertation by the University of Lucerne, authored by Ramona Pedretti. In her study, she examines cases where heads of state may appear before an international court for crimes committed.However, according to her, there are a number of immunities that make it much more difficult to bring charges against an official politician. Basically, Pedretti argues, it is impossible to bring charges against the current heads of state, however, international law is able to hold the trial of former heads of state.