2015 EDITION Vol.3 Issue 11 DIGITAL

has evidence - often heads of militia
or heads of state – usually benefit
from protection; militias by the
army; heads of state by the state
apparatus.
No one said that establishing
the international rule of law was
going to be easy. Seldom have
major advances in human progress
travelled the path of least resistance.
The ICC and the international
criminal justice system will
persevere and thrive. They will do so
not because of hopeful aspirations of
their supporters or faltering by their
detractors. But because of what they
stand for as powerful ideas; because
they meet vital needs for humanity’s
progress in the modern era; because
without them, we’ll regress into an
even more turbulent world where
chaos, volatility and violence are
seen as inevitable norms.
Kata Kata: Does the setback
in the case against President
Kenyatta encourage or discourage
you to tackle the case against
Mr Ruto, the deputy President of
Kenya?
Bensouda: No. We will face
challenges, it is only normal. But
that should not mean that the ICC’s
mandate should not be pursued. The
Court’s founding treaty, the Rome
Statute is very clear: no one is above
the law. We will continue to robustly
fulfil our mandate.
Kata Kata: Some critics
have accused the ICC of minimal
accomplishments of just two
convictions in a dozen years, which
they argue, do not justify the high
costs of running it. How do you react
to this?
Bensouda: The ICC was
established to complement criminal
proceedings in national courts, not
usurp them. It was never envisaged
that the Court would replace
domestic courts to be a global onestop-shop
for criminal justice. On
the contrary, its role is to encourage
local, national judicial systems
undertake this work. In accordance
with this mandate, then, it is only
when the national judicial system
cannot or will not take action that
the ICC steps in. In this way, the ICC
was designed as a court of last resort.
Criminal justice is not a numbers
game. It is about following the
evidence, to proescute perpetrators
when the evidence supports the
charges, for the defence to present a
robust defence, and in this process
for the truth to be established.
Uncovering the truth is rarely a
speedy process. The pursuit of justice
will sometimes mean that a person
is acquitted and other times that
a person is found guilty. It is the
evidence alone that will lead the
Court to this conclusion. That is how
real justice works.
The success of the Court should
therefore not be judged by the
number of cases in its docket, or
number of convictions. The shadow
of the Court, its deterrent impact,
and its ability to trigger national
proceedings are all crucial in
gauging its effectiveness.
Lastly, in my humble view, you
cannot put a value on international
criminal justice. In any event, the
Court’s annual overall costs are
nominal considering the complexity
of its mandate.
Kata Kata: From the
accusation of intimidation, murder,
withdrawing and withholding of
critical evidence, the case against
the President of Kenya (Kenyatta)
has been a frustrating experience,
some legal analysts claim. How can
you prevent such ugly realities in
the future and help the ICC achieve
its aims?
Bensouda: The severe
challenges my Office had faced in
the investigation of Kenyatta include
the fact that several people who may
have provided important evidence
regarding Kenyatta’s actions, have
died, while others were too terrified
to testify for the Prosecution; key
witnesses who provided evidence
in this case later withdrew or
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