International criminal tribunals : justice and politics / Yves Beigbeder.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 318-332) and index.

The pioneers: the Nuremberg and Tokyo Military trials -- The international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia -- The international criminal tribunals for Rwanda -- Special panels for serious crimes in East Timor, now Timor -Leste -- The special court for Sierra Leone -- The extraordinary chambers in the courts of Cambodia -- The special tribunal for Lebanon -- The International Criminal Court: 1. Statute, mandate and structure -- 2. Referrals and investigations -- The Iraqi special tribunal -- The delayed trial of Hisseǹe Habre.́

This book reviews the statutes, achievements and limitations of international criminal courts, starting with the Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals, and€followed in the 1990s by temporary international or hybrid national/international courts as well as the creation of the permanent International Criminal Court. These courts have all been exposed to pressures and interference by national and international politics, which have affected their performance. Are they really independent from states which have created them and on which do they depend for their financing and cooperation? The ultimate question is whether international criminal justice is a utopian enterprise based on unrealistic and biased grounds, or whether, in spite of its flaws and limitations it constitutes an important step forward in the long fight against the impunity of criminal leaders. With an innovative interdisciplinary approach linking the legal, the historical and the political, the author provides both an overview and a political analysis of the strengths and weaknesses of the various tribunals and of international criminal justice in general.