States of Justice
The Politics of the International Criminal Court

This book theorizes how weaker states in the international system use the ICC to advance their security and political interests.

Oumar Ba (Author)

9781108488778, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 2 July 2020

240 pages, 3 tables
23.5 x 15.7 x 1.5 cm, 0.45 kg

'The International Criminal Court cannot escape the unruly effects of power politics. In fact, it depends on state cooperation and must find ways of navigating the forces of state competition and power maximization. But if we are to confront this reality, we also need to rigorously engage the strategies of its states parties bent on using the court to gain pollical advantage. Oumar Ba's important new book argues powerfully for such engagement in the context of African politics. Its systematic analysis of African state parties' strategies toward the ICC is a rich and insightful study of the shifting political dynamics of these states' cooperation with the ICC. With its theoretical and empirical rigor, it shows just how important it is to probe the complex politics of the less powerful, authoritarian African states.' Steven C. Roach, University of South Florida

This book theorizes the ways in which states that are presumed to be weaker in the international system use the International Criminal Court (ICC) to advance their security and political interests. Ultimately, it contends that African states have managed to instrumentally and strategically use the international justice system to their advantage, a theoretical framework that challenges the “justice cascade” argument. The empirical work of this study focuses on four major themes around the intersection of power, states' interests, and the global governance of atrocity crimes: firstly, the strategic use of self-referrals to the ICC; secondly, complementarity between national and the international justice system; thirdly, the limits of state cooperation with international courts; and finally the use of international courts in domestic political conflicts. This book is valuable to students, scholars, and researchers who are interested in international relations, international criminal justice, peace and conflict studies, human rights, and African politics.

1. Regimes of International Criminal Justice
2. States of Justice
3. Outsourcing Justice
4. The International Politics of Justice
5. The Limits of State Cooperation
6. The Court is the Political Arena
7. International Justice in a World of States

Subject Areas: International organisations & institutions [LBBU], Public international law [LBB], International law [LB], Law [L], International relations [JPS], Political science & theory [JPA]