Book Description

The International Criminal Court's operations in Africa have encountered significant difficulties. While the work of the Court has taken concrete shape, so have its challenges. The title of this collection, Courting Conflict?, alludes to the inherent problems of pursuing justice in the midst of violence. It also points to the tremendous controversy generated by the ICC's work to date, not least the charge leveled at the Court that its actions risk prolonging conflict by jeopardizing peace deals. This collection investigates the politics of the ICC's interventions in Africa. Rather than exploring the progress of the ICC per se, the essays address Africa's encounters with the Court and the Court's encounters with Africa. The authors avoid treating African countries simply as a geographical arena for a new international justice body. They also resist discussing the ICC in legal terms only. Instead, the essays situate debates about the Court in specific social, cultural and political contexts where contending local, national and international pressures apply. The contributors address the ICC's relationships with the governments, non-state groups, national judiciaries and local populations of the countries where it is active. Coverage of the ICC has often belied the complexity of these relationships and has either romanticized or demonized the Court's interventions. These essays take the form of short comment pieces, written to stir and broaden debate on the ICC but also to help move it beyond the sensational and oversimplified.