Witness Preparation in the ICC: An Opportunity for Principled Pragmatism

Jackson, John D.; Brunger, Yassin M.

Abstract

In January 2013, Trial Chamber V of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the cases of William Ruto and Joshua Sang and of Francis Muthaura and Uhuru Kenyatta, collectively known as the ‘Kenya decisions’, made a marked departure from the firm prohibition on ‘witness proofing’ established by the ICC's Pre-Trial and Trial Chamber I in the Lubanga decisions. This reversal illustrates the polarization of an issue that has caused considerable controversy in the international legal community and demonstrates the challenges faced by the Court in navigating such a controversy. While the practice may be viewed as a fault line between two different procedural cultures, forever destined to be subject to debate, this article explores an alternative view, examining the reasons for this turnaround and proposing an approach based on ‘principled pragmatism’. In doing so, it considers whether witness preparation is coming to be regarded as a necessary part of ICC practice.

Citation

Jackson, J. D., & Brunger, Y. M. (2015). Witness Preparation in the ICC: An Opportunity for Principled Pragmatism. Journal of International Criminal Justice, 13(3), 601-624. https://doi.org/10.1093/jicj/mqv024

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: May 5, 2015
• Online Publication Date: Jun 18, 2015
• Publication Date: 2015-07
• Deposit Date: Dec 20, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Dec 20, 2016
• Journal: Journal of International Criminal Justice
• Print ISSN: 1478-1387
• Electronic ISSN: 1478-1395
• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 13
• Issue: 3
• Pages: 601-624
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1093/jicj/mqv024
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/754182
• Publisher URL: https://academic.oup.com/jicj/article/13/3/601/890744
• Additional Information: This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in Journal of International Criminal Justice following peer review. The version of record John D. Jackson, Yassin M. Brunger; Witness Preparation in the ICC: An Opportunity for Principled Pragmatism. J Int Criminal Justice 2015; 13 (3): 601-624 is available online at: https://academic.oup.com/jicj/article/13/3/601/890744
• Contract Date: Dec 20, 2016