International Criminal Tribunal Backlash

Abstract This chapter explores the phenomenon of backlash against international criminal tribunals, defining backlash as ‘intense and sustained government disapproval of tribunal conduct, accompanied by aggressive steps to resist such conduct and to remove its legal force’. After promising beginnings, post-Cold War international criminal tribunals have increasingly faced strident criticism from important constituencies, including previously supportive governments. This has prompted concern about declining support for and ‘backlash’ against such tribunals, amidst broader debates about similar tendencies affecting international adjudication more generally. Drawing on International Relations theories, this chapter analyzes drivers and inhibitors to backlash against international criminal tribunals, specifically the International Criminal Court, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. It identifies several factors relevant for explaining tribunal backlash: domestic politics and the preferences and interests of powerful elites; external actors, particularly engaged regional and great powers; and transnational social pressure.