Trial Justice. The International Criminal Court and the Lord's Resistance Army, Tim Allen

With his book ‘Trial Justice’ Tim Allen enters one of the hottest realms of recent debate in the field of transitional justice. His book is the first extensive study on the controversial involvement of the International Criminal Court in the conflict, one of Africa's longest conflicts, pertaining to the Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda. The stark contrast Allen depicts between two realities, i.e., the legal and normative developments on the world stage on the one hand, and a highly intricate local conflict with its own, at times highly peculiar dynamics, on the other, is remarkable. Allen's study starts with a comprehensive overview of the development of international criminal trials for mass atrocity. He then rapidly changes course and gives a sophisticated account of the origins of the Lord's Resistance Army and the conflict as experienced by the population of northern Uganda, many of whom are living in IDP camps. In these chapters Allen's field experience in working with the Acholi communities in northern Uganda over the years is quite apparent and the quotes, although at times numerous, recite the dilemmas in the words of those most affected. The two different world views are immediately set to clash

Criminal court · Criminal justice · Criminology · Economic Justice · International law · Normative · Political science · Population · Resistance (ecology · Sociology · Transitional justice · Historical and Contemporary Political Dynamics · International Law and Human Rights · Law