Imagine a criminal justice system that achieves fewer than five
convictions per year and spends more than $20 million on each. By
some measures, this would make it the least efficient prosecutorial
system in recorded history, with the risk of creating rather than
deterring more crimes, and one that few victims or perpetrators
believe provides fairness. This is the state of international
criminal justice today.
How did one of the bravest and most optimistic expressions of
post-Cold War global power-the provision of justice to those
victimized by atrocious crimes-degenerate into a system in which so
few are convinced justice is being done, a system that may well
exacerbate the very problems it was designed to fix? Adam M. Smith,
an international lawyer who has worked at The Hague and in the
Balkans and is the son of a Holocaust refugee, comprehensively
examines the complex, politicized world of international criminal
justice, reviewing the serious shortcomings of the international
justice system in several hot spots, including:
- The former Yugoslavia, where a one-billion-dollar investment has
spectacularly backfired.
- Sierra Leone, where the same wartime factions that the
international community tried to dismantle remain, and in some
quarters are stronger than ever.
- Rwanda, where the post-conflict tribunal was met with dismay by
all sectors of society, has played second fiddle to the Yugoslav
tribunal, operates on a shoestring budget, and receives begrudging
cooperation from the Rwandan government.
- Sudan and Uganda, where the nascent International Criminal Court
has inexplicably replicated many of the same problems that plague
the former Yugoslavia, Sierra Leone, and Rwanda.
Are other options available to provide the good of justice without
the potentially devastating side effects? Smith illustrates the
viability of a counterintuitive "solution" to dealing with genocide
and other mass crimes: to entrust the challenging, potentially
destabilizing work of war crimes justice to the very states
affected by the crimes. After Genocide is indispensable reading for
voters, policymakers, and citizens as well as lawyers, academics,
and human rights activists who hope that "never again" can be more
than a platitude.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
