International Criminal Tribunals : A Normative Defense

This book considers the myriad of critics of international criminal law concerning normative concepts of legitimacy, sovereignty, responsibility, punishment, economics, politics, evidence, and fairness. This is the first book to provide a thorough defense of international criminal tribunals, especially the International Criminal Court, from critics of diverse perspectives and disciplines.

In the last two decades there has been a meteoric rise of international criminal tribunals and courts, and also a strengthening chorus of critics against them. Today it is hard to find strong defenders of international criminal tribunals and courts. This book attempts such a defense against an array of critics. It offers a nuanced defense, accepting many criticisms but arguing that the idea of international criminal tribunals can be defended as providing the fairest way to deal with mass atrocity crimes in a global arena. Fairness and moral legitimacy will be at the heart of this defense. The authors take up the economic and political arguments that have been powerfully expressed, as well as arguments about sovereignty, punishment, responsibility, and evidence; but in the end they show that these arguments do not defeat the idea of international criminal courts and tribunals.