photo credits: Global Panorama’s Flickr Stream: International Criminal Court Building
Suzanne Dovi, an Associate Professor of Political Science at the University of Arizona, will speak at the Raoul Wallenberg Institute about the kind of voice victims are given in the International Criminal Court (ICC).
“The International Criminal Court (ICC) is currently reviewing its system of representing victims, what is known as its ‘participatory regime,’” says Dovi. “This regime is how international criminal law recognizes and conveys to victims of human rights abuses the legal rights to attend, engage in, contribute to, and influence the outcome and sentencing of a legal case.”
In 2016, the ICC anticipates having over 10,000 victim applicants, she says.
But Dovi asks what kind of voice victims are given in the ICC, and whether this representation is “meaningful”?
Drawing on the experiences of victims, specifically of victims of sexual violence, she examines what we mean by meaningful representation of victims. In particular, she argues that the participation of victims legitimize the authority of the ICC, while simultaneously preventing victims from exercising their rights to participate and adequately acknowledging the different and sometimes contradictory claims of victims.
Suzanne Dovi is currently a Fulbright Fellow at Pluricourts and the Political Science Department at the University of Oslo, Norway. Her work focuses on representation of historically disadvantaged groups, human rights, accountability, and democratic theory. She is working on my book project entitled “The Politics of Non-Presence.” Her work has appeared in the American Political Science Review, the Journal of Politics, Constellations, as well as the Los Angeles Times and the Washington Post.
Date: 23 May 2016
Time: 1:15 – 2:30 p.m.
Location: Beijing conference room, Raoul Wallenberg Institute, Stora Gråbrödersgatan 17