Chaired by Professor William Schabas (Irish Centre for Human Rights), the panel included Professor Catherine Lu (McGill University), Professor Gary Bass (Princeton University), and Justice Richard Goldstone (Constitutional Court of South Africa, Prosecutor – International Criminal Tribunals for Rwanda and former Yugoslavia).

Key questions addressed by the panel:

• What is justice?
• What is the role of the International Criminal Court(ICC)? What is the role of the prosecutor? What type of prosecutor/legal actor is imagined to efficiently work within a system of justice?
• How do politics, the law, and morality intersect?

On justice

Professor Bass contrasted the “normal version” of criminal justice, “one murderer, one prosecution, one jail sentence” to international criminal justice, where a small number of people are prosecuted as a mostly symbolic gesture. A “perfect justice” is not always the solution, which may exceed the costs that the parties are willing to take.

On the role of the Court/role of the Prosecutor

The ICC is seen as a soft option for politicians, according to Bass, sending a message that “we care” or “we are paying attention,” without committing the necessary resources for economic sanctions or military intervention.

Lu described her ideal vision of actors within ICJ: judges and lawyers with a good political instinct, politicians who possess the same instinct and a commitment to justice. Bass concurred with his depiction of a jurist who thinks like a politician but doesn’t appear to be one.

Justice Goldstone relayed an anecdote about his experience as Prosecutor, confronted by an irritated UN Secretary General Boutros Boutros-Ghali, who expected to be consulted before the ICTY indictments. Goldstone emphasized the necessity of an independent Court and office of the Prosecutor, as outlined in Article 42, Section 1 of the Rome Statute. The role of the Prosecutor is to investigate and issue appropriate indictments, once sufficient evidence is available. The Prosecutor, not being privy to political negotiations, cannot be expected to make political decisions nor is it the Prosecutor’s role.

On law, politics and morality

There was consensus on the panel that if the political will is present, the Court can be effective, at least in prosecuting and punishing, if not in deterrence. Goldstone was adamant in stating that the global community must decide whether it wants an efficient ICC.

Tough questions still remained, many presented by Professor Lu throughout the session, such as: When should one prosecute? What happens when “justice” causes harm, or prolongs a war? Can the ICC be seen as a legitimate and independent authority? Should limited financial resources be devoted to an external legal system or to much needed areas of reconstruction in the aftermath of a genocide?

Professor Lu described the law as embedded within politics and morality, explaining that “laws don’t interpret and apply themselves.” Due to the nature of the crimes under its jurisdiction, the ICC finds itself embedded within external political struggles, while grappling with being recognized as a legitimate judicial authority. While the panel concluded that deterrence is a small section of the ICC’s scope of action, the appropriateness of ICC as a uniform institution for international criminal punishment is still called into question.