Document Type
Article
Publication Title
Cornell International Law Journal
Abstract
Prosecutors at the International Criminal Court (ICC) have a dual mission: hold perpetrators accountable for grave international crimes, and deliver justice to victims. To fulfill these mandates, the Office of the Prosecutor must navigate dynamic understandings of justice in disparate post conflict societies. Yet, few empirical studies have investigated how culture--viewed as a resource for navigating social relations--impacts relationships between ICC prosecutors and victims and shapes participants' expectations of international criminal law. Do prosecutors and victims embedded in distinct relational networks experience international justice differently?
Drawing from 298 interviews with atrocity crime victims in Uganda and Democratic Republic of the Congo and from twenty-seven interviews with ICC officials, this Article reveals how disparate beliefs about, and expectations of, international justice generate epistemological and practical conflicts.
In-depth interviews with ICC victim participants reveal that most victims expect prosecutors to provide non-legal forms of recognition and support, including regular visits to their home communities, updates about trial proceedings, and material assistance. In contrast, ICC prosecutors tend to prioritize legal consistency, procedural uniformity, and retributivism. Some
prosecutors view victims' extra-judicial requests as outside the proper scope of ICC activities.
To resolve such conflicts, this Article argues that ICC prosecutors should question principles of legalism and adopt a flexible approach to victim outreach and participation. Moreover, in some contexts, victim outreach may include forms of material support as a proper exercise of the court's obligations under the Rome Statute.
First Page
339
Last Page
278
Publication Date
Fall 2020
Recommended Citation
Stephen Cody, Victims and Prosecutors: Clientelism, Legalism, and Culture at the International Criminal Court, 53 Cornell International Law Journal, 339 (2020).
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