Academics for International Criminal Justice: The Role of Legal Scholars in Creating and Sustaining a New Legal Field

Abstract

The article is a sociological investigation into the crucial role of legal academics in the professional mobilization that characterized the creation and development of international criminal justice. Analyzing the different stages in the evolution of international criminal law culminating with the striking proliferation of the new ad hoc tribunals since the 1990s and the creation of the first permanent international criminal court (ICC) in 2002, the article highlights the pivotal role of legal academics in defining and championing this form of law by placing themselves in a double role as both legal consultants and scholarly experts in the nascent field of international criminal justice. Investing professionally in the creation and development of international criminal justice, this role as double agents allowed groups of academics to have a significant impact on the genesis and evolution of international criminal justice as a scientific discipline as well as an innovative legal practice that has remained a controversial element in global governance.

Keywords: Sociology of law, International criminal justice, international criminal law