The role of international criminal tribunals in promoting human rights

Abstract

An important debate in contemporary international law is the extent to which the international trials could contribute to development of human rights. This article presents the place of this type of trials among the means of transitional justice and asserts their benefits for human rights by approaching three main issues related to international criminal tribunals: their activity based on the rule of law, their influence in societies emerging from human rights abuses and their role to deter future human rights violations. It also challenges the main critiques of international criminal justice, in order to cover all the relevant aspects of the topic.