Acceptance of International Criminal Justice: Country Study on Colombia

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This chapter discusses the acceptance of international criminal justice in Colombia. The country has experienced an over 50-year conflict, the latest phase of which is under preliminary examination by the International Criminal Court (ICC). In 2005 the ICC opened a preliminary investigation. The chapter investigates in how far the Colombian legal community accepts international criminal justice. While the legal professionals consulted in this study agree that international criminal justice is generally accepted in Colombia, the chapter reveals many different understandings of acceptance. Thus, it is necessary to refine what counts as acceptance and to whom. The respondents distinguished between instrumental and symbolic acceptance, between regulatory and political acceptance, and  it was further acknowledged that levels of acceptance differed between different actors in the country, as well as that it changed over time. However, overall the experts agreed that international criminal justice was accepted and credited this most to the interactive relationship between the ICC and the Colombian Government.