The accommodation of indigenous norms in international criminal justice institutions: the case for hybridty

This paper uses the concept of hybridity as developed by the postcolonial theorist Homi Bhabha to critique and reconstruct the foundations of international criminal law. Examining three aspects of contemporary international criminal justice (its modes of evaluating evidence, its substantive law, and its penal practices), it argues that the system is rooted in eurocentric, liberal notions of criminal justice. In response to this problem, hybrid courts represent a normative opening where western and nonwestern justice traditions can negotiate the nature of justice and law in a fashion that is captured by Bhabha’s theory. It concludes with reflections on how hybrid courts can be strengthened to develop a more inclusive model of international criminal justice.