Doing Justice to History

This book offers an astute account of how history is being constructed in international courtrooms. It shows how historical narratives by international criminal courts are neither static nor final, and it argues that international judgments should not be seen as historical endpoints but rather as discursive beginnings. The book is brilliant in its nuanced approach and convincing through its meticulous argumentation. * Larissa van den Herik, Professor of Public International Law, Leiden University * Milan Kundera writes that we 'pass through the present with our eyes blindfolded,' and it is only when that blindfold 'is untied' that we can 'glance at the past' and discover its meaning. In this book for the ages, Barrie Sander unties international criminal law's blindfold. Sander adroitly shows what sense law can, and cannot, make of history. * Mark A. Drumbl, Professor of Law, Washington and Lee University * In Doing Justice to History, Barrie Sander moves us well beyond familiar debates over whether international criminal courts (or any courts for that matter) should narrate history, by masterfully and compellingly demonstrating how international criminal courts not only produce but legitimate impoverished historical accounts. While largely skeptical of the many biases of international criminal law that manifest in its history-making, Sander also suggests the emancipatory potential of approaching the judicial production of history as a site of critical inquiry rather than as an end. Lawyers, historians, and social theorists interested in the law or memory of armed conflict, crimes against humanity, and genocide will want to read this book. * Karen Engle, Chair in Law, The University of Texas at Austin * This book is a well-informed, meticulously researched and incessantly inquisitive contribution to what might be broadly characterised as the historiography of international criminal law. How do international criminal courts go about constructing historical narratives, how are these histories received and what happens to history after its encounter with international law, and international law after its encounter with history? By offering us a series of deft and sometimes pugnacious answers to these questions, Dr Sander enriches the field considerably. * Gerry Simpson, Professor of Public International Law, LSE *