Fans pick 100 books like The Local Impact of the International Criminal Court

By Marieke Wierda,

Here are 100 books that The Local Impact of the International Criminal Court fans have personally recommended if you like The Local Impact of the International Criminal Court. Shepherd is a community of 12,000+ authors and super readers sharing their favorite books with the world.

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Book cover of Rough Justice: The International Criminal Court in a World of Power Politics

Tom Buitelaar Author Of Assisting International Justice: Cooperation Between UN Peace Operations and the International Criminal Court in the Democratic Republic of Congo

From my list on complicated international criminal courts.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my graduate studies, I had a fantastic professor who was able to make the politics of international criminal justice one of my favorite subjects. The intersection of law, politics, peace, and conflict pulled me in. But the fact that it also touches on human rights, state sovereignty, and the prevention of mass atrocities got me hooked. I ended up doing extensive research on the International Criminal Court and how it interacts with UN peace operations, and I have subsequently been teaching peace and justice at Leiden University. I publish regularly on these topics as well and am the associate editor of International Peacekeeping, one of the leading journals on international conflict management. 

Tom's book list on complicated international criminal courts

Tom Buitelaar Why did Tom love this book?

David Bosco is a journalist with excellent academic credentials. In this book, he produces work that is a superb combination of both. It is a riveting read, but also lays bare some of the key dynamics underlying how the International Criminal Court operates.

I know it’s a bit dated by now, but so many of the dynamics that Bosco discusses continue to be essential to understanding why international criminal justice isn’t just about the impartial application of the law but also can’t escape global power politics. I and many others interested in studying international criminal justice from a political angle continue to use it as a reference work. 

By David Bosco,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Rough Justice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Ten years ago, in the wake of massive crimes in central Africa and the Balkans, the first permanent international criminal court was established in The Hague despite resistance from some of the world's most powerful states. In the past decade, the court has grown from a few staff in an empty building to a bustling institution with more than a thousand lawyers, investigators, and administrators from around the world. Despite its growth and the backing of more than 120 nations, the ICC is still struggling to assert itself in often turbulent political crises.

The ICC is generally autonomous in its…


Book cover of Distant Justice: The Impact of the International Criminal Court on African Politics

Tom Buitelaar Author Of Assisting International Justice: Cooperation Between UN Peace Operations and the International Criminal Court in the Democratic Republic of Congo

From my list on complicated international criminal courts.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my graduate studies, I had a fantastic professor who was able to make the politics of international criminal justice one of my favorite subjects. The intersection of law, politics, peace, and conflict pulled me in. But the fact that it also touches on human rights, state sovereignty, and the prevention of mass atrocities got me hooked. I ended up doing extensive research on the International Criminal Court and how it interacts with UN peace operations, and I have subsequently been teaching peace and justice at Leiden University. I publish regularly on these topics as well and am the associate editor of International Peacekeeping, one of the leading journals on international conflict management. 

Tom's book list on complicated international criminal courts

Tom Buitelaar Why did Tom love this book?

Many authors who write about international criminal justice forget that those who are the subject of criminal investigations have their own interests and goals in how they respond. The states in which these investigations take place try to use the courts and tribunals for their own purposes, like neutralizing opposition or presenting themselves as good international citizens.

In this book, Clark reports on his decade-long investigation into the effect of the ICC on politics in African states, especially the DRC and Uganda. I love how he draws on a variety of sources and hundreds of interviews to produce a detailed and nuanced story. 

By Phil Clark,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Distant Justice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

There are a number of controversies surrounding the International Criminal Court (ICC) in Africa. Critics have charged it with neo-colonial meddling in African affairs, accusing it of undermining national sovereignty and domestic attempts to resolve armed conflict. Here, based on 650 interviews over 11 years, Phil Clark critically assesses the politics of the ICC in Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo, focusing particularly on the Court's multi-level impact on national politics and the lives of everyday citizens. He explores the ICC's effects on peace negotiations, national elections, domestic judicial reform, amnesty processes, combatant demobilisation and community-level accountability and reconciliation.…


Book cover of Justice in Conflict: The Effects of the International Criminal Court's Interventions on Ending Wars and Building Peace

Tom Buitelaar Author Of Assisting International Justice: Cooperation Between UN Peace Operations and the International Criminal Court in the Democratic Republic of Congo

From my list on complicated international criminal courts.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my graduate studies, I had a fantastic professor who was able to make the politics of international criminal justice one of my favorite subjects. The intersection of law, politics, peace, and conflict pulled me in. But the fact that it also touches on human rights, state sovereignty, and the prevention of mass atrocities got me hooked. I ended up doing extensive research on the International Criminal Court and how it interacts with UN peace operations, and I have subsequently been teaching peace and justice at Leiden University. I publish regularly on these topics as well and am the associate editor of International Peacekeeping, one of the leading journals on international conflict management. 

Tom's book list on complicated international criminal courts

Tom Buitelaar Why did Tom love this book?

Mark Kersten is one of the world’s leading authorities on the role that criminal justice plays in conflict. This book is my favorite guide to understanding the effect that international criminal courts and tribunals can have in the midst of an ongoing conflict because Kersten studies the multifaceted effects that ICC intervention has.

In contrast to the advocates and skeptics, Kersten argues we should remain agnostic and also accept that the ICC may sometimes have no effect at all. I also think it’s a great example of how careful fieldwork in fragile contexts can lead to important insights on the validity of some of our assumptions of how international criminal justice works. 

By Mark Kersten,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Justice in Conflict as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

What happens when the international community simultaneously pursues peace and justice in response to ongoing conflicts? What are the effects of interventions by the International Criminal Court (ICC) on the wars in which the institution intervenes? Is holding perpetrators of mass atrocities accountable a help or hindrance to conflict resolution? This book offers an in-depth examination of the effects of interventions by the ICC on peace, justice and conflict processes. The 'peace versus justice' debate, wherein it is argued that the ICC has either positive or negative effects on 'peace', has spawned in response to the Court's propensity to intervene…


Book cover of Hiding in Plain Sight: The Pursuit of War Criminals from Nuremberg to the War on Terror

Tom Buitelaar Author Of Assisting International Justice: Cooperation Between UN Peace Operations and the International Criminal Court in the Democratic Republic of Congo

From my list on complicated international criminal courts.

Why am I passionate about this?

In my graduate studies, I had a fantastic professor who was able to make the politics of international criminal justice one of my favorite subjects. The intersection of law, politics, peace, and conflict pulled me in. But the fact that it also touches on human rights, state sovereignty, and the prevention of mass atrocities got me hooked. I ended up doing extensive research on the International Criminal Court and how it interacts with UN peace operations, and I have subsequently been teaching peace and justice at Leiden University. I publish regularly on these topics as well and am the associate editor of International Peacekeeping, one of the leading journals on international conflict management. 

Tom's book list on complicated international criminal courts

Tom Buitelaar Why did Tom love this book?

Since international criminal courts and tribunals do not have their own police powers, they’re always dependent on the cooperation of others for the execution of their arrest warrants. Important here is that most of these courts do not allow for trials without the suspect in custody, making arrests a key condition for their effectiveness. I have always found the stories behind why some fugitives get arrested and others do not one of the most fascinating parts of international criminal justice.

This book tells the stories of several high-profile fugitives and how they were ultimately (not) arrested. It not only often reads like a detective thriller but also emphasizes the strong dependence on “the ebb and flow of political will” of states. 

By Eric Stover, Victor Peskin, Alexa Koenig

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Hiding in Plain Sight as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Hiding in Plain Sight tells the story of the global effort to apprehend the world's most wanted fugitives. Beginning with the flight of tens of thousands of Nazi war criminals and their collaborators after World War II, then moving on to the question of justice following the recent Balkan wars and the Rwandan genocide, and ending with the establishment of the International Criminal Court and America's pursuit of suspected terrorists in the aftermath of 9/11, the book explores the range of diplomatic and military strategies-both successful and unsuccessful-that states and international courts have adopted to pursue and capture war crimes…


Book cover of The Edge of Doubt: The Trial of Nancy Smith and Joseph Allen

Emilio Corsetti III Author Of I Will Ruin You: The Twisted Truth Behind The Kit Martin Murder Trial

From my list on wrongful convictions and their causes.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been drawn to stories about wrongful convictions. I can think of nothing worse than losing your freedom for something you did not do. More importantly, I think it’s important to hold those responsible accountable. I believe in the sentiment that it is better to let ten guilty men go free than to have one innocent man convicted.

Emilio's book list on wrongful convictions and their causes

Emilio Corsetti III Why did Emilio love this book?

You may remember the hysteria that formed in the US in the early eighties involving childcare workers and child molestation charges. This story occurred in the early nineties, well after those earlier cases, but contains many of the same elements that led to countless false convictions in those earlier child molestation trials.

It begins in 1993 with an accusation of child molestation by a black man named Joeseph Allen. The accusation by the child’s mother also included a claim against a bus driver, Nancy Smith, who was accused of driving the four-year-old child to the home where the molestation took place.

From this first accusation and the initial investigation, Author David Miraldi follows this tragic story for the next three decades. When you think things can’t get any worse for Joseph Allen and Nancy Smith, they do. Then, to top it off, there is an ending that you won’t see…

By David Miraldi,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Edge of Doubt as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

In the tight-knit community of Lorain, Ohio, a whirlwind of horror swept through as unsettling allegations surfaced - a trusted bus driver and her alleged companion accused of shattering the innocence of preschoolers in the respected Head Start program. The verdict? Life-long prison sentences that would cast a shadow over a community, and initiate an untiring quest for truth.


'The Edge of Doubt' is a meticulously researched true crime narrative that delves into the reverberations of a sensational trial. This gripping tale is anchored in three decades of unwavering claims of innocence. As the pages turn, you'll find yourself torn…


Book cover of The Prosecutor

Ravinder Randhawa Author Of The Coral Strand

From my list on by writers of colour.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always loved books and reading, so it’s no surprise I’m an author and blogger. However, feeling strongly about justice and truth, I’ve also been active in the feminist and anti-racist movements. Additionally, I founded The Asian Women Writers Workshop (later known as the Asian Women Writers Collective), whose work has been archived by South Asian Diaspora Arts Archive (SADAA). I’ve been a Royal Literary Fund Fellow at several British universities and am a member of PEN International. As a writer of colour (South-Asian heritage), I'm intrigued by the work of diverse writers, their interpretation and focus.  

Ravinder's book list on by writers of colour

Ravinder Randhawa Why did Ravinder love this book?

We’ve all seen those movies about courtroom battles and a determined prosecutor, speaking up for innocent victims. In Nazir Afzal we have the real deal. Coming from a working-class, migrant family, he knows what it’s like for the powerless. As Chief Prosecutor he won milestone cases involving criminals, honour killings, domestic violence, human trafficking, and many others. This engrossing book takes us behind the scenes. Nazir Afzal is recognised as a man who changed British justice for the better. 

By Nazir Afzal,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Prosecutor as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

The outsider who transformed our justice system

Nazir Afzal knows a thing or two about justice. As a Chief Prosecutor, it was his job to make sure the most complex, violent and harrowing crimes made it to court, and that their perpetrators were convicted. From the Rochdale sex ring to the earliest prosecutions for honour killing and modern slavery, Nazir was at the forefront of the British legal system for decades.

But his story begins in Birmingham, in the sixties, as a young boy facing racist violence and the tragic death of a young family member - and it's this…


Book cover of Golden Gulag: Prisons, Surplus, Crisis, and Opposition in Globalizing California

Nancy Hiemstra Author Of Detain and Deport: The Chaotic U.S. Immigration Enforcement Regime

From my list on why the U.S. has the biggest immigration detention system.

Why am I passionate about this?

I first became aware of harms of immigration enforcement policies while volunteering to tutor kids of undocumented migrant farmworkers in the 1990s. Through a variety of jobs in the U.S. and Latin America, my eyes were opened to reasons driving people to migrate and challenges immigrants face. I eventually went to graduate school in Geography to study local to transnational reverberations of immigration policies. A project in Ecuador where I helped families of people detained in the U.S. led me to realize how huge, cruel, and ineffective U.S. immigration detention is. I hope these books help you break through myths about detention and make sense of the chaos.

Nancy's book list on why the U.S. has the biggest immigration detention system

Nancy Hiemstra Why did Nancy love this book?

This book is key to understanding the economic, political, and social drivers behind the rise of the incarceration industry, which moved on to promote and expand immigration detention using the same playbook.

Ruth Wilson Gilmore provides a powerful case study of the explosive growth of California’s prison system since the 1980s. The book traces how corporate lobbyists for the prison industry took advantage of local economic downturn and racist narratives to push new laws that massively increased the number of people incarcerated, fueling a prison boom.

While a depressing account, Gilmore leaves the reader with a sense of hope and purpose by recounting the rise of a determined grassroots movement fighting the hungry carceral industry, with lessons that can be transferred to stopping detention expansion.

By Ruth Wilson Gilmore,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked Golden Gulag as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Since 1980, the number of people in U.S. prisons has increased more than 450%. Despite a crime rate that has been falling steadily for decades, California has led the way in this explosion, with what a state analyst called 'the biggest prison building project in the history of the world'. "Golden Gulag" provides the first detailed explanation for that buildup by looking at how political and economic forces, ranging from global to local, conjoined to produce the prison boom. In an informed and impassioned account, Ruth Wilson Gilmore examines this issue through statewide, rural, and urban perspectives to explain how…


Book cover of We Do This 'Til We Free Us: Abolitionist Organizing and Transforming Justice

Paula Lehman-Ewing Author Of Reimagining the Revolution: Four Stories of Abolition, Autonomy, and Forging New Paths in the Modern Civil Rights Movement

From my list on easing you out of your comfort zone.

Why am I passionate about this?

Throughout my career as a journalist and social documentarian, I have been committed to exposing injustices and seeking out stories overlooked by mainstream media. As my career has evolved in this space—from journalist to grassroots organizer to author—I have learned to remain curious and teachable, acknowledging that my preconceived notions of the world will not do me any good. In confronting the uncomfortable in pursuit of truth, I have uncovered systemic abuses in the criminal justice system and shed light on the harsh realities faced by incarcerated individuals.

Paula's book list on easing you out of your comfort zone

Paula Lehman-Ewing Why did Paula love this book?

This was an instant New York Times Bestseller, something that took even people within the abolitionist movement aback. While reformist practices and progressive prosecutors were already mainstream when the book came out, abolition was not a concept that was as easy to swallow.

I think that’s where Kaba shines: Through transcribed interviews and her essays, she makes abolition understandable and seemingly attainable. Her rationality is hard to argue with, and she presents the concepts in a way that anyone can access. 

By Mariame Kaba,

Why should I read it?

2 authors picked We Do This 'Til We Free Us as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

New York Times Bestseller

"Organizing is both science and art. It is thinking through a vision, a strategy, and then figuring out who your targets are, always being concerned about power, always being concerned about how you're going to actually build power in order to be able to push your issues, in order to be able to get the target to actually move in the way that you want to."

What if social transformation and liberation isn't about waiting for someone else to come along and save us? What if ordinary people have the power to collectively free ourselves? In…


Book cover of Just Mercy: A Story of Justice and Redemption

Emilio Corsetti III Author Of I Will Ruin You: The Twisted Truth Behind The Kit Martin Murder Trial

From my list on wrongful convictions and their causes.

Why am I passionate about this?

I’ve always been drawn to stories about wrongful convictions. I can think of nothing worse than losing your freedom for something you did not do. More importantly, I think it’s important to hold those responsible accountable. I believe in the sentiment that it is better to let ten guilty men go free than to have one innocent man convicted.

Emilio's book list on wrongful convictions and their causes

Emilio Corsetti III Why did Emilio love this book?

This book deals with the death penalty. The author covers several cases involving people who were on death row and were subsequently found to be innocent.

The book also covers related topics, such as mass incarceration, mandatory sentencing, racial bias, prison overcrowding, cruel and unusual sentences for minors, the psychological impact of long-term solitary confinement, and a host of other crime and punishment issues.

By Bryan Stevenson,

Why should I read it?

12 authors picked Just Mercy as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

NOW A MAJOR MOTION PICTURE, STARRING MICHAEL B. JORDAN, JAMIE FOXX, AND BRIE LARSON.

A NEW YORK TIMES, WASHINGTON POST, BOSTON GLOBE, ESQUIRE, AND TIME BOOK OF THE YEAR.

A #1 New York Times bestseller, this is a powerful, true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix America's broken justice system, as seen in the HBO documentary True Justice.

The US has the highest rate of incarceration in the world. One in every 15 people born there today is expected to go to prison. For black men this figure rises to one…


Book cover of The Costs of Crime and Justice

Brian Forst Author Of Errors of Justice: Nature, Sources and Remedies

From my list on the economics of crime and justice.

Why am I passionate about this?

Throughout my academic career, my chief scholarly interest has been to assess public policy using coherent theory and rigorous empirical method. The economics of crime and justice offers a powerful framework for achieving these ends.

Brian's book list on the economics of crime and justice

Brian Forst Why did Brian love this book?

Cohen offers a comprehensive sweep of the financial and non-financial consequences of criminal behavior, crime prevention, and society’s response to crime, public and private.  

Crime costs are far-reaching, including medical costs, lost wages, property damage, pain and suffering, and reduced quality of life for victims and the public at large, as well as public expenditures on police, courts, and prisons, and the costs borne by offenders and their families, who often suffer consequences apart from the punishments they receive for committing crime. 

By Mark A. Cohen,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked The Costs of Crime and Justice as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

This book presents a comprehensive view of the financial and non-financial consequences of criminal behavior, crime prevention, and society's response to crime. Crime costs are far-reaching, including medical costs, lost wages, property damage and pain, suffering, and reduced quality of life for victims and the public at large; police, courts, and prisons; and offenders and their families who may suffer consequences incidental to any punishment they receive for committing crime.

The book provides a comprehensive economic framework and overview of the empirical methodologies used to estimate costs of crime. It provides an assessment of what is known and where the…


Book cover of Rough Justice: The International Criminal Court in a World of Power Politics
Book cover of Distant Justice: The Impact of the International Criminal Court on African Politics
Book cover of Justice in Conflict: The Effects of the International Criminal Court's Interventions on Ending Wars and Building Peace

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