Recent institution, international criminal justice is strained between ideals formulated well before its creation, present demands and recurrent criticism. Expectations for this justice are particularly strong when it comes to punishing crimes characterised by their mismeasurement, by the serious violation of the values of the international community and by their undermining of the social and political ties. International criminal justice should punish criminals, define reparations, but also reconcile the parties, help to rebuild the social and political link, promote institutions specific to the rule of law and, finally, have a deterrent and preventive role. Are these objectives which go beyond the sole requirement to combat impunity achieved? Can international courts only be assessed against these requirements? Should responses to mass crimes be exclusively judicial? At the time of the reviews, more than a decade after the entry into force of the International Criminal Court and while the first international criminal courts are scheduled to close by the end of 2014, this book examines a number of legal and extra-legal responses to mass crimes, the justice policies implemented, and the tensions and paradoxes of an ever-changing inter-national criminal justice system. Embracing the approaches of legal specialists — researchers and practitioners —, philosophers and sociologists, it examines in a multifaceted way the development and use of justice, the stakes of which are decisive for legal practice and for political and philosophical thinking. (Editor summary)