Judgment Day Judicial Decision Making at the International Criminal Tribunals

This book demonstrates how, after many years of inactivity after the World War II tribunals, judges at the Yugoslav, Rwanda and Sierra Leone tribunals, and to a lesser extent the International Criminal Court, have seized the opportunity to develop international law on war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Meernik and Aloisi argue that judges are motivated by a concern for human rights protection and the legacy of international criminal justice. They have progressively expanded the reach of international law to protect human rights and have used the power of their own words to condemn human rights atrocities. Judges have sentenced the guilty to lengthy and predictable terms in prison to provide justice, deterrence of future violations and even to advance peace and reconciliation. On judgment day, we show that judges have sought to enhance the power of international justice.

1. The importance of judicial decision making; 2. A theory of international judges as judicial entrepreneurs; 3. Analyzing the progressive development of international law; 4. The expressive function of judgments; 5. Punishing the guilty; 6. Conclusions.

Rosa Aloisi specializes in research on international justice, international courts, international human rights, and gender issues in international politics. She currently co-leads a Trinity University International Criminal Justice Study Abroad Program to The Hague and to Poland.
James Meernik specializes in research on international justice and international courts, post conflict peace building, and United States foreign policy. He co-leads a University of North Texas Study Abroad Program to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia that won the 2007 American Political Science Association award for the most innovative course in the United States. He won a Fulbright Specialist grant to the Autonomous University of the State of Mexico (UAEM) in 2009 and another Fulbright Specialist award with Soochow University, Taiwan.