The Washington University School of Law Global Studies Law Review recently published the symposium papers for the conference we held last year, The International Criminal Court at Ten. Access to the online edition can be found here. The collected papers by leading authors highlight the progress and challenges the Court has faced since it began operations in 2002. I wrote, in that symposium issue the following:
“It is easy to become cynical and disheartened by the difficulties that the ICC has faced in its first ten years of existence. Trials that take too long, states that refuse cooperation, states that spurn the Court entirely, budgetary difficulties, political problems including the cleavage of the United States and the Court, and so forth. Yet the spirit that animated the Rome conference – the intuitive voice that whispered in the ear of those present that establishing the Court was simply the right thing to do – regardless of whether it would be easy to accomplish – is still present. We see it in the artistic expression of Monika Weiss, we hear it in the voices of our children, we see it in the faces of the victims of atrocity crimes who finally may perceive in the world some possibility for justice, and we perceive it in the writings of the men and women who have contributed here. Indeed, this collection of essays by some of the preeminent authors in this field stands as a tribute to the indomitable spirit that carried the Rome Conference to a successful conclusion and continues to animate those who are working so hard to make the Court a success. Let us hope that their wise counsel is heeded by those with the power to make a difference.”
As the Court enters its twelfth year of existence, with confirmation hearings scheduled next week in the Ntaganda case and the Katanga decision expected next summer, we take this opportunity to commend this volume to its leadership.
