The Impact of the Ad Hoc Tribunals on the International Criminal Court
The Legacy of the Ad Hoc Tribunals in International Criminal Law: Assessing the ICTY's and ICTR's Most Significant Legal Accomplishments (Milena Sterio & Michael Scharf eds., Cambridge University Press 2019)
18 Pages Posted: 4 Mar 2018 Last revised: 13 Apr 2019
Date Written: February 22, 2018
Abstract
The ad hoc tribunals (the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda) played an important role in catalyzing the creation of the International Criminal Court (ICC). First, they demonstrated that international criminal justice was possible, even if it would not be easy. Second, they demonstrated that creating ad hoc tribunals in response to atrocities was not a sustainable solution. The ad hoc tribunals also influenced the shape of the Rome Statute and the drafters of the Rome Statute incorporated many of the features of the ad hocs into it. At the same time, however, the ICC was also a reaction to the ad hoc tribunals and the drafters of the Rome Statute sought to remedy what they perceived as the ad hocs’ flaws. This essay explores these two ideas in more detail: 1) how is the ICC indebted to the ad hocs?; and 2) how is the ICC is a reaction to them?
Keywords: International Criminal Court, ICC, ICTY, ICTR, legacy, ad hoc tribunals, ad hocs
JEL Classification: K33
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation