Research

We place a special emphasis in engaging with practitioners and their needs to ultimately contribute to capturing state-of-the-art practice and enhancing practice, as relevant. Research projects thus address challenges and structural concerns that affect the practice of international criminal law. 

The Academy’s research addresses themes that are either under-researched or deserve particular or renewed attention. For our applied and interdisciplinary research, the Academy has nurtured strong relationships with renowned academics and universities in all continents. Engaging with experts across multiple disciplines, especially in law, the social sciences and humanities, and organising expert seminars strengthens our research endeavours. 

The Academy addresses a broad spectrum of topics: Some projects have brought clarity to issues such as the use of digital evidence in the prosecution of international crimes and the ethical aspects of private investigations in international criminal justice. Another project addressed hate speech in the context of international criminal law. Other projects have identified key elements that would serve as benchmarks for measuring international criminal justice and have explored the deterrent effect of international criminal tribunals. Following a June 2018 resolution from the German Parliament, the Academy undertook an analysis of the length of proceedings before the International Criminal Court and provided recommendations to the Federal Government of Germany.

Our research produces various deliverables, including databases, publications, guidelines and declarations. Recently, we partnered and worked with experts, including five Presidents of international criminal courts and tribunals, in developing ethical principles for international criminal judges. The Academy also published guidelines for social workers dealing with refugees as potential witnesses of international crimes as well as guiding principles for cooperation between civil society actors and judicial mechanisms mandated with the prosecution of conflict-related sexual violence. 

The Academy strives to disseminate and share its research as widely as possible. All our findings are available open access and free of charge – through online resources, databases and publications. Contemporary research findings inform our capacity strengthening efforts and are actively distributed through our training programmes.