The Sum of Four Fears: African States and the International Criminal Court in Retrospect (Max du Plessis and Christopher Gevers)
In two posts appearing on OpinioJuris (in collaboration with the International Commission of Jurists), Max du Plessis and Chris Gevers have written Feature Posts dealing with the current crisis of legitimacy at the International Criminal Court. They reflect critically on the role that the ICC and at times its supporters have played in the demise of its once promising relationship with African states, and to consider whether the story might have turned out differently (or might yet still). While much of the blame is currently placed solely at the feet of African states and their hostility towards particular investigations involving Heads of State, the authors show that (1) the fractures within this relationship have come about as the result of the actions (and inactions) of the ICC, and its supporters, and (2) that, as far as African states’ complaints are concerned, these were general concerns they had about the ICC that were present in outline at its founding in 1998 – and which have come to be realized, for the worse, with each year passing. The authors offer reflections on how this impasse might be resolved.
The two posts are available here:
and here