Introduction

This introduction chapter presents an overview of the key concepts covered in the subsequent chapters of this book. The book examines the need for critique and the agenda of critique in international criminal law (ICL). It discusses critique as an ethical orientation for addressing ICL. The book analyzes the politics of ICL, endeavouring to go further than simply stating that 'ICL is political'. It applies the critique of depoliticization to the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, in particular to the tribunal's Ayyash case by Heidi Matthews. The book explains the underlying neoliberal logic of ICL. It shows that the field is committed to growth and branding, both central paradigms of neoliberalism. The book demonstrates how ICL has placed undue emphasis on image at the expense of substance. It highlights that the universals employed in ICL are determined through the dominant ideology, whether one may call that liberalism, neoliberalism or capitalism.