Unintended Positive Complementarity: Why International Criminal Court Investigations May Increase Domestic Human Rights Prosecutions

Abstract

This article shows that International Criminal Court investigation in a country situation is correlated with increased domestic human rights prosecutions in the intermediate term. Using evidence from Africa, the article argues that this relationship results from a “willingness game” between ruling coalitions attempting to feign commitment to human rights norms and reformer coalitions, who use the onset of ICC investigations as an opportunity to engage in human rights litigation. This link between ICC investigation and domestic criminal prosecutions, unanticipated by Court employees and unexamined by scholars, is evidence that the ICC may have some surprising impacts.

Keywords: International Criminal Court, human rights, Africa, complementarity