EDITORIAL: Between ‘Faith’ and ‘Facts’: By What Standards Should We Assess International Criminal Justice?

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 251-282 ◽  
Author(s):  
CARSTEN STAHN
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Prodigal Son ◽  
Local Responses ◽  
Fact Finding ◽  
Legal Example

AbstractThe traditional vision that international courts and tribunals do ‘good’ or create a better world through law is increasingly under question. International criminal justice started largely as a ‘faith’-based project, but is increasingly criticized in light of its actual record and impact. This essay examines this journey and, in particular, the role of ‘faith’ and ‘fact’ in the treatment and assessment of international criminal courts, through four core themes (‘effectiveness’, ‘fairness’, ‘fact-finding’, and legacy’) addressed in André Gide's version of the parable of The Return of the Prodigal Son. It argues that, in its ‘homecoming’, international criminal justice would benefit from a greater degree of realism by openly accepting its limitations and embracing its expressivist function. It cautions at the same time against exclusively quantitative understandings of impact, arguing that the power of international courts and tribunals lies not so much in their quantitative record as in their role in setting a moral or legal example or shaping discourse. It concludes that a better match between ‘idealism’ and ‘realism’ requires greater attention to the interplay between ‘international’, ‘domestic’, and ‘local’ responses to conflict, as well as recognition of their legitimate differences.

Debate: The role of international criminal justice in fostering compliance with international humanitarian law

2014 ◽  
Vol 96 (895-896) ◽  
pp. 775-794 ◽  
Author(s):  
Chris Jenks ◽  
Guido Acquaviva
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
International Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
International Courts ◽  
General Deterrence ◽  
Military Commanders

Much has been written about the “deterrent” role of international courts and tribunals in preventing potential atrocities. Since the establishment of thead hoctribunals and the International Criminal Court, the international community has sought to anchor the legitimacy of international justice in the “fight against impunity”. Yet recent studies have suggested that an overly broad characterization of international courts and tribunals as “actors of deterrence” might misplace expectations and fail to adequately capture how deterrence works – namely, at different stages, within a net of institutions, and affecting different actors at different times.1TheReviewinvited two practitioners to share their perspectives on the concrete effects of international criminal justice on fostering compliance with international humanitarian law. Chris Jenks questions the “general deterrence” role of international criminal justice, contending that the influence of complicated and often prolonged judicial proceedings on the ultimate behaviour of military commanders and soldiers is limited. Guido Acquaviva agrees that “general deterrence”, if interpreted narrowly, is the wrong lens through which to be looking at international criminal justice. However, he disagrees that judicial decisions are not considered by military commanders, and argues that it is not the individual role of each court or tribunal that matters; rather, it is their overall contribution to an ever more comprehensive system of accountability that can ultimately foster better compliance with international humanitarian law.

International criminal justice: from the idea to modern system

2009 ◽  
pp. 55-67
Author(s):  
A. G. Volevodz
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Legal Basis ◽  
Wide Spread ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Basic Principles ◽  
International Courts ◽  
Modern System ◽  
History Of

Profound concern of international community about serious violations of basic principles and admitted rules leads to wide spread practice of establishing and functioning of international courts of criminal justice. The article touches upon the history of legal basis of international criminal justice, modern models of establishing and functioning of international criminal courts, and signs, that consolidate them into modern system of international criminal justice.

Institutional Expression

2020 ◽  
pp. 165-249
Author(s):  
Carsten Stahn
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Speech Act ◽  
Speech Act Theory ◽  
Community Relations ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Mutual Learning ◽  
Expressive Meaning ◽  
Institutional Action

The chapter demonstrates that the very act of reacting to atrocities, and institutionalization itself, has expressive meaning. Institutions rely on symbolism, rituals, and mimetic practices in order to ensure their own survival. This also applies to international criminal courts and tribunals. Sometimes the ‘medium is the message’. Throughout history, the establishment of institutions has sent different signals, such as memory and remembrance, shame and apology, renewal of community relations, hope and belief or protest. International criminal justice relies on action. Speech act theory is helpful to understand the various meanings of institutional action. Acts, such as jurisdictional determinations (e.g. complementarity), preliminary examinations or investigations, arrests, or cooperation create new narrative subjects, entail commands or incentives for action, or convey attitudes. Outreach and legacy strategies involve strong didactic rationales. They are often more geared towards one-sided expression rather than two-way communication or mutual learning

The Expressive Limits of International Criminal Justice: Victim Trauma and Local Culture in the Iron Cage of the Law

2019 ◽  
Vol 19 (6) ◽  
pp. 1014-1045
Author(s):  
Barrie Sander
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Cultural Values ◽  
Complex Terrain ◽  
Critical Reflection ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Cultural Assumptions ◽  
Iron Cage ◽  
Point Of Departure

Scholarship within the field of international criminal justice has increasingly turned towards expressivist strands of thought, characterised by a concern for the didactic qualities of international criminal courts. Taking expressivism as its point of departure, this paper critically examines the expressive limits of international criminal justice. Specifically, the paper examines the extent to which international criminal courts have been expressively constrained both in their ability to alleviate the traumas of victims and in their receptivity to the local cultural values of conflict-affected communities. The paper argues that a critical reflection on the expressive limits of international criminal courts, paying particular attention to their retributive core and cultural assumptions, can help such institutions better navigate the complex terrain in which they operate, reducing aspirations concerning what they should be expected to achieve in practice and improving their legitimacy amongst local communities.

scholarly journals Expressing what? The stigmatization of the defendant and the ICC’s institutional interests in the Ongwen case

2020 ◽  
pp. 1-23
Author(s):  
Liana Georgieva Minkova
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Northern Uganda ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Trials ◽  
Operation Risk ◽  
International Criminal Trials ◽  
Empirical Contribution ◽  
Selection Of

Abstract The potential of international criminal trials to express the wrongfulness of mass atrocities and instil norms of appropriate behaviour within communities has been subject to a lively theoretical debate. This article makes an important empirical contribution by examining the limitations to the expressivist aspiration of international criminal justice in the context of the message communicated by the International Criminal Court’s Office of the Prosecutor (ICC-OTP) in the Ongwen case. A detailed analysis of the selection of charges, modes of liability, and the overall presentation of the Prosecutor’s arguments at trial suggests that the ICC-OTP’s limited capabilities to apprehend suspects and its dependency on state co-operation risk the excessive stigmatization of the few defendants available for trial for the purpose of demonstrating the Court’s capability of prosecuting notorious criminals. As the only apprehended commander from the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), Dominic Ongwen has been presented by the ICC-OTP as the ‘cause’ of crimes committed in Northern Uganda without due regard for the degree of his alleged involvement in those crimes compared to other LRA commanders, the role of other actors in the conflict, or the significance of his own victimization as a child. Ongwen’s excessive stigmatization expressed the importance of the Ugandan investigation after a decade of showing no results. Yet, it also produced a simplistic narrative which failed to express the complexity of violence in Northern Uganda.

scholarly journals Sixty-Five Years of International Criminal Justice: The Facts and Figures

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-41 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alette Smeulers ◽  
Alette Smeulers ◽  
Barbora Hola ◽  
Alette Smeulers ◽  
Barbora Hola ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Justice System ◽  
Justice System ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Empirical Reality

The international criminal justice system comprises nine international criminal courts and tribunals; six are still operational and three have closed down. On average, they operated for almost nine years apiece and concluded 172 cases in which over 250 judges and 23 chief prosecutors were involved. All in all 745 suspects were indicted, 356 were actually tried and, of these, some 281 defendants were convicted. Currently 34 suspects are on trial and 22 are still at large. The ‘average’ convicted perpetrator is male, aged 40 and a member of a military or paramilitary organisation from Europe, Asia or Africa who is acting on behalf of his government. These are just some of the facts and figures which we present in this article: an overview of the empirical reality of the international criminal justice system which has currently been functioning for just over 65 years.

The Role of the Amicus curiae before International Criminal Tribunals

2006 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 151-189 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannah Woolaver ◽  
Sarah Williams
Keyword(s):  
Sierra Leone ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
Amicus Curiae ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Traditional Concept ◽  
International Courts ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals ◽  
Rules Of Procedure

AbstractThe amicus curiae brief has increasingly been used before international criminal tribunals. The practice of accepting or inviting amicus curiae briefs or submissions has been included in the rules of procedure and evidence of the ICTY, the ICTR, the Special Court for Sierra Leone and the International Criminal Court. This article examines the role of amicus curiae before international criminal courts, including: how and when amicus are granted permission to appear; how amicus curiae are used by these international courts; the influence, if any, of amicus briefs on decisions and judgments; and whether the role of amicus curiae in international criminal courts has diverged from the traditional concept of an amicus curiae. Also considered are the arguments in support of the continued role of amicus curiae before international criminal tribunals.

Israel’s Unwillingness? The Follow-Up Investigations to the UN Gaza Conflict Report and International Criminal Justice

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (5) ◽  
pp. 905-935 ◽  
Author(s):  
Valentina Azarov ◽  
Sharon Weill
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Standards ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Complementarity Principle ◽  
International Crimes ◽  
Recent Developments

Following Israel’s ‘Operation Cast Lead’, the UN called upon the Israeli and Palestinian authorities to conduct investigations and prosecutions of international crimes in accordance with international standards. The measures that the Israeli authorities undertook, when carefully examined, fall short of international standards. When examined under the lens of the admissibility criteria of the complementarity principle under Article 17 of the ICC Statute, this deficient practice emerges as part of a broader policy intended to shield perpetrators and maintain a climate of impunity for those committing international crimes. The need to find alternative avenues to provide victims with access to justice calls for an interrogation of the role of international criminal justice mechanisms, such as the ICC, in the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. This article examines recent developments concerning Israel’s investigations under the criteria set out by the complementarity principle.

The Legitimacy of International Criminal Tribunals and the Current Prospects of International Criminal Justice

2012 ◽  
Vol 25 (2) ◽  
pp. 491-501 ◽  
Author(s):  
ANTONIO CASSESE
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
International Criminal Court ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Criminal Court ◽  
The Other ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Complex Concept ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals

AbstractHaving identified the differences between the concept of legality and the much more complex concept of legitimacy, the author scrutinizes the legality and the legitimacy of the existing international criminal tribunals. Their legality has been put in doubt only concerning the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), but the criticisms have been or could be overcome. Assessing the legitimacy of these tribunals is instead a more difficult task. In fact, misgivings have been voiced essentially concerning the legitimacy of the ICTY and the STL, but not the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the other international criminal courts. The legitimacy of the STL in particular deserves to be discussed: even assuming that the STL initially lacked some forms of legitimacy, it could achieve it – or confirm it – through its ‘performance legitimacy’. The author then suggests what the realistic prospects for international criminal justice are. Convinced as he is that it is destined to flourish even more, he tries to identify the paths it is likely to take in future years.

scholarly journals Trials as Messages of Justice: What Should Be Expected of International Criminal Courts?

2016 ◽  
Vol 30 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-447 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tim Meijers ◽  
Marlies Glasius
Keyword(s):  
Criminal Justice ◽  
Final Section ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Legal Theory ◽  
International Criminal Justice ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Judicial Process ◽  
Limited Success ◽  
Contemporary Practice

This article addresses the question what—if anything—we can and should expect from the practice of international criminal justice. It argues that neither retributive nor purely consequentialist, deterrence-based justifications give sufficient guidance as to what international criminal courts should aim to achieve. Instead, the legal theory of expressivism provides a more viable (but not unproblematic) guide. Contrary to other expressivist views, this article argues for the importance of the trial, not just the punishment, as a form of expressivist messaging. Specifically, we emphasize the communicative aspect of the judicial process. The final section, acknowledging the limited success of international criminal justice so far in terms of fulfilling its expressivist potential, diagnoses the main obstacles to, and opportunities for, expressivist messaging in the contemporary practice of international criminal justice.

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