International Criminal Court Facing the Peace vs. Justice Dilemma

Abstract

The ‘Peace versus justice’ debate has been a central theme when analyzing the politics of international criminal justice. The role of the permanent International Criminal Court may be portrayed as an obstacle to peace processes but it may as well facilitate those processes. The present paper, by juxtaposing sometimes diverging views, argues that a more nuanced approach is needed for properly assessing the impact of the ICC. In fact, the Court may play neither role exclusively. Instead, there are different mechanisms enshrined in the Rome Statute, for accommodating the demands of peace and justice. They are addressed within the present study.