Doing ‘Justice’ at the Office of the Prosecutor: Portrayals of a cultural value

Abstract

This chapter explores the different ways the value of justice is portrayed in the International Criminal Court (ICC) Office of the Prosecutor’s (OTP) public communications.

Public communications are one of the ways through which the OTP shapes external perceptions about its culture of prosecuting. The OTP’s public communications regularly refer to the OTP’s desire to do ‘justice’. But what is the value of ‘justice’ that the OTP is projecting to external observers? This chapter engages in an empirical, statistical analysis of the how ‘justice’ is portrayed in the OTP’s public communications. It argues that the way justice is currently portrayed may create misconceptions regarding the OTP’s goals, aspirations, and capabilities; and reinforce negative metanarratives that have cast shadows over the OTP’s work. It concludes by proposing the OTP pivot towards emphasising the values of independence and impartiality to mitigate the risk of its culture of prosecuting being misunderstood.