Bringing Power to Justice?: The Prospects of the International Criminal Court

Alexander David Kurke is a criminal lawyer in Sudbury, Ontario.

Editors Joanna Harrington, Michael Milde, and Richard Vernon bring
together papers presented at a conference at the University of Western
Ontario in 2003. The inspiration of those proceedings, and this book,
was the establishment

of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2002.

After an overview by the editors, Michael Scharf demonstrates by
example how a standing tribunal like the ICC may help eliminate
arguments of “victor’s justice” and partiality levelled against ad
hoc war crimes tribunals such as the Yugoslavia Tribunal in the case of
Slobodan Milosevic (Chapter 2). In Chapter 3, Dapo Akande offers a
primer on how international law immunities work, and how the ICC seeks
to limit them to ensure that wrongdoing does not go unpunished. David
Wippman summarizes arguments for and against the success of an ICC, and
argues that exaggerated positive or negative rhetoric about the ICC will
endanger its effectiveness (Chapter 4). Darryl Robinson examines whether
there is a place for restorative justice in the ICC (Chapter 8).

In Chapter 5, Alex Tuckness seeks to explain to the United States why
it would be in that country’s interest to ratify the ICC. Tracy Isaacs
asks (about genocide) whether individuals can ever be held responsible
for a collective wrong, and concludes that they should generally be held
responsible only for their individual contribution (Chapter 6). In
Chapter 7, Catherine Lu considers the ICC as an instrument of “moral
regeneration,” and finds, not surprisingly, that it has a part to play
in preventing future acts of inhumanity. Antonio Franceschet concludes
the book by suggesting that the ICC could accomplish more if its
functions were not so narrowly circumscribed.

Overall, the authors provide ample study material in their scholarly
footnotes. This book will be a useful resource for an undergraduate
political science course.