Drawing on the experience of prosecuting at the international level in multicultural environments

Abstract

This contribution offers a practitioner’s reflection on the cultural challenges of international criminal prosecutions, drawing on the author’s experience in the early genocide trials at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and as Deputy Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Rather than a formal analysis, it distils practical, common-sense lessons about working in court with eyewitnesses who were victims and survivors. It examines how counsel may prepare witnesses across linguistic and cultural divides, how cultural norms shape memory, narrative, and demeanour, and how those norms extend to interpreters, counsel, and judges from divergent legal traditions. Throughout, it stresses cultural sensitivity and genuine human connection as foundations for the court's search for truth — concluding that, in such settings, it is often wisest simply to listen and learn.