International prosecutors are the gatekeepers to international criminal justice. They have the sole authority to prosecute people for the most serious crimes at international courts: genocide, war... Show moreInternational prosecutors are the gatekeepers to international criminal justice. They have the sole authority to prosecute people for the most serious crimes at international courts: genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. Every day, they need to decide which situations to investigate; which crimes to charge; which witnesses to call; whether to negotiate pleas; and whether to appeal. Prosecutors make theses choices, and countless others, by exercising discretion. Discretion, this research argues, is the act of reaching a reasoned decision about the appropriate course of action to pursue. Discretion translates law from an abstract set of ideas and notions into practical action. How prosecutors exercise discretion shapes what international criminal justice is, how it develops, and what it does. What have international prosecutors considered when exercising discretion, and why?This research draws upon first-hand interviews with current and former senior prosecutors at the highest levels of international courts to explore the motivations and assumptions that drive the practice of prosecuting in international criminal justice. It argues that prosecutorial discretion is informed by the different role identities that prosecutors adopt towards the institutions, people, and concepts they encounter in their work. Specifically, it claims that prosecutors have been influenced by their roles as norm performers, builders, and guardians. This research concludes that adopting a relational understanding of the prosecutorial role, in which prosecutors are understood to have different roles within different relationships, allows a nuanced understanding of what international prosecutors do and explains why decisions are made. Show less
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... Show moreThis 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. Show less
