Doctoral Dissertation Research: State Cooperation with the International Criminal Court

Syracuse University, Syracuse NY

Investigators

Abstract

The International Criminal Court (ICC) was created to bring perpetrators of mass atrocities to justice. As an international court without a police force, the ICC depends on the cooperation of states to fulfill essential investigative tasks, such as providing access to sites or arresting suspects. State cooperation is the pre-condition for the achievement of the Court's mission to end impunity. However, little is known about the extent of and rationales behind state cooperation with the Court. This study examines when and why ICC member states (states that have ratified the Rome Statute) have cooperated with the Court. The project's findings will prove valuable for US policy makers and human rights advocates seeking to enhance the effectiveness of international human rights institutions as they can contribute to a culture of accountability and foster regional stability. Moreover, fast and fair trials are in the interest of the victims of grave human rights violations who often have no other recourse to justice. The research design concentrates on Africa, a particularly important region for studying state cooperation since all current ICC cases have originated in Africa and because this prosecution focus has prompted some African countries to call for en masse withdrawal from the Court. Two forms of state cooperation are crucial. First, using a database of 350 country statements at the UN General Assembly, the research investigates how political support for and critique of the Court have developed temporally and regionally. Supportive discourse can signal to other states that the ICC is seen as a legitimate actor and is trusted by member states. Second, the research analyzes the rationales behind concrete compliance decisions through three in-depth case studies of 'critical cooperation incidents' between African countries (Kenya, Cote d'Ivoire, South Africa) and the ICC. After creating a timeline of cooperation behavior for each country, process tracing and congruence analysis based on primary and secondary sources as well as elite interviews will be used to investigate the causal pathways to compliance and non-compliance. The project advances scholarly debates on state compliance with international law by studying rhetoric as a distinct form of cooperation, by examining compliance and non-compliance factors separately, and by highlighting regional dynamics in Africa as a new explanation for compliance.