Why read Distant Justice?

Book cover of Distant Justice: The Impact of the International Criminal Court on African Politics

Book description

There are a number of controversies surrounding the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Africa. Critics have charged it with neo-colonial meddling in African affairs, accusing it of undermining national sovereignty and domestic attempts to resolve armed conflict. Here, based on 650 interviews over 11 years, Phil Clark critically assesses the…

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Why read it?

1 author picked Distant Justice as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Tom Buitelaar

Author

Many authors who write about international criminal justice forget that those who are the subject of criminal investigations have their own interests and goals in how they respond. The states in which these investigations take place try to use the courts and tribunals for their own purposes, like neutralizing opposition or presenting themselves as good international citizens.

In this book, Clark reports on his decade-long investigation into the effect of the ICC on politics in African states, especially the DRC and Uganda. I love how he draws on a variety of sources and hundreds of interviews to produce a detailed…

From Tom's list on The best books on the effectiveness of international criminal courts (hint - it’s complicated).