ABSTRACT
This chapter begins with a discussion of law as culture and cultured, and the implications of this in the context of international criminal tribunals. It analyses the legal traditions and cultures that influenced the drafting of the Statue and questions whether the Statue accommodates all legal traditions and cultures. The chapter reviews the Rome Statute's provisions that seek to encourage and facilitate cultural accommodation and sensitivity and recognise the importance of culture. The importance of general principles as a source of international criminal law was recognised by the drafters of the Rome Statute in Article 21 and this constitutes the first codification of the sources of international criminal law. The chapter shows that the International Criminal Court framework does leave room to accommodate cultural considerations and facilitates a culturally sensitive approach to all those who may come before it, either as a defendant or a victim or witness.
