Chapter

The role of international criminal prosecutions in increasing compliance with international humanitarian law in contemporary African conflicts

Robert Cryer

Inducing compliance with international humanitarian law : lessons from the African Great Lakes Region

Cambridge : Cambridge University Press, 2015

p. 188-216

English

The establishment of international criminal courts is one of the major responses through which the international community tried to address the challenge for compliance which stems from war-torn areas of limited statehood. However, international criminal prosecution is criticized because it is difficult to demonstrate empirical evidence that it fulfils its deterrent and educative purposes in these areas. Robert Cryer addresses this criticism, stressing that the selective approach of international criminal prosecution challenges its legitimacy. He concludes that we ought to approach the possible preventative role of international criminal law and the ICC with humility and an understanding of the limits of criminal justice.

• Full text : restricted access (ICRC)

• Inducing compliance with international humanitarian law : lessons from the African Great Lakes Region / ed. by Heike Krieger ; assistant ed. Jan Willms