International Justice As a Cause, and International Judiciary Causes

While our knowledge of international criminal jurisdictions is constantly improving, the lack of a social scientific analysis of the International Court of Justice -- the "main judiciary body of the United Nations" -- has left the historical core of international justice unexplored. This brief report looks at how they relate to each other in the prosecution of "crimes that upset the conscience of humanity." After pointing out the weaknesses of the Court, I show how two ways of relating to law & international justice have developed, relying respectively on a certain use of the ICJ & then on mobilizations in favor of international criminal justice, & on the legal doctrine & legal diplomacy of great powers. I then turn to explaining the role of conflicts over the central position of the Court in the design of its February 26, 2007 sentence, in which it stated in particular that Bosnia-Herzegovina did not prove that Serbia was legally responsible for the genocide in Srebrenica. Adapted from the source document.