International Criminal Court, restorative or retributive justice?

This study examines the impact of the rigors of international justice on a community accustomed with informal, "authentic" means of resolving conflicts. The elements of this impact are assessed in relation to the interaction between the traditional restorative justice and the retributive justice specific to the International Criminal Court, especially with regard to the conflict in northern Uganda, which is the object of a lawsuit pending before this court. National jurisdictions and the International Criminal Court cannot be analyzed as opposing, alternative institutions, but only as complementary institutions, acting to restore peace and maintain security. Justice and peace are common goals of both jurisdictions. Peace can only be restored through justice, be it national or international. By analyzing the principle of complementarily, and the role of national restorative measures, we conclude that their interference in the proceedings of the International Criminal Court is impossible, both in relation to the provisions of the Statute and to their nature, their character being eminently ethnic, tribal.