Roche suggests that in these cases we should respect the conditional amnesties granted in national

The end of ‘the end of impunity’?The International Criminal Court and the challenge from truthcommissionsJakob v. H. HoltermannAbstract: With its express intention “to put an end to impunity”, the Internat ionalCriminal Court (ICC) faces a substantial challenge in the shape of cond itionalamnesties granted in future national truth commissions (TCs) – a challenge thatinvokes fundamental considerations of criminal justice ethics. In this article, I givean account of the challenge, and I consider a possible solution to it present ed byDeclan Roche. According to this solution the ICC-prosecutor should respect nat ionalamnesties and prosecute and punish only those perpetrators who have refuse d tocooperate with the TC. I argue, however, that this compromise is untenable . As ageneral rule, if we justify the ICC on grounds of deterrence we should not acceptconditional amnesties granted in national TCs.Keywords: International Criminal Court, deterrence, truth commissions, amnes ties,restorative justice, Declan RocheIntroductionThe ink was barely dry on the Rome statute founding the ICC before the first mu rmur ofdissent was heard in the hallways of Academia. In the ensuing years this has led to anumber of writings challenging the philosophical foundations of the ICC – mainl y ongrounds of alleged difficulties in transplanting the traditional justifying aims of tria l andpunishment (retribution or prevention) from the domestic to the international are na ...