Distant Justice
The Impact of the International Criminal Court on African Politics

Following the controversy stirred by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Africa, Clark analyses its multi-level impact on national politics and ordinary communities.

Phil Clark (Author)

9781108474092, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 8 November 2018

392 pages
23.5 x 15.6 x 2.3 cm, 0.68 kg

'Few international institutions - not even that old bête noir, the International Monetary Fund - have drawn as much political ire in Africa as the ICC. Needless to say, the reasons are varied and intricate. By focusing on the issue of 'distance' Phil Clark's far-reaching examination of the ICC in Africa offers new and interesting perspectives on why the relationship is so conflicted and dysfunctional. It also critically re-engages with the phenomenon of 'justice' as (mis)understood across borders and cultures. Distant Justice is a highly-nuanced, deeply researched and wide-ranging exploration of the intersection between international institutions, domestic (and regional) politics and on-the-ground perspectives of ordinary individuals about a phenomenon of such critical relevance to contemporary society.' J. Oloka-Onyango, author of When Courts do Politics

There are a number of controversies surrounding the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Africa. Critics have charged it with neo-colonial meddling in African affairs, accusing it of undermining national sovereignty and domestic attempts to resolve armed conflict. Here, based on 650 interviews over 11 years, Phil Clark critically assesses the politics of the ICC in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, focusing particularly on the Court's multi-level impact on national politics and the lives of everyday citizens. He explores the ICC's effects on peace negotiations, national elections, domestic judicial reform, amnesty processes, combatant demobilisation and community-level accountability and reconciliation. In attempting to distance itself from African conflict zones geographically, philosophically and procedurally, Clark also reveals that the ICC has become more politicised and damaging to African polities, requiring a substantial rethink of the approaches and ideas that underpin the ICC's practice of distant justice.

1. Introduction: the warlord in the forecourt
2. Court between two poles: conceptualising 'complementarity' and 'distance'
3. Who pulls the strings? The ICC's relations with states
4. In whose name? The ICC's relations with affected communities
5. When courts collide: the ICC and domestic prosecutions
6. Peace versus justice Redux: the ICC, amnesties and peace negotiations
7. The ICC and community-based responses to atrocity
8. Continental patterns: assessing the ICC's impact in the remaining African situations
9. Conclusion: narrowing the distance.

Subject Areas: Propaganda [JPVN], Political campaigning & advertising [JPVL], Human rights [JPVH], Central government policies [JPQB], Constitution: government & the state [JPHC], Political science & theory [JPA]