ABSTRACT
This chapter explores how and why international criminal courts and tribunals punish the individuals they convict of international crimes. The UNMICT now supervises and enforces all sentences in accordance with international standards of detention and the applicable law of the enforcing State. International criminal judges gesture towards important rationales when they impose sentences. Retribution and general deterrence are the two most prominently cited punishment goals. The ICTY Appeals Chamber has emphasised that 'retribution should not be misunderstood as a way of expressing revenge or vengeance'. General deterrence considers that the purpose of prosecuting and punishing individuals who commit mass atrocity is utilitarian in nature, that is, to dissuade others from offending in the future. As the boundaries between international crimes, on the one hand, and transnational crimes, on the other, become increasingly porous, questions arise whether the aspirations for sentencing should also become consistent. The ICC is a court yet also connects to an avowedly 'restorative' framework that involves reparations.
