The International Criminal Court’s cases in Kenya: origin and impact

This research paper examines the origins and impact of the International Criminal Court (ICC) cases in Kenya following the 2007-2008 post-election violence. It details the failure of domestic attempts to establish a Special Tribunal, the subsequent ICC investigations, and the confirmation of charges against four high-level Kenyan figures. The author assesses the ICC's role in terms of complementarity, deterrence, and retributive justice, while situating these legal processes within the broader framework of the Kenya National Dialogue and Reconciliation (KNDR) agreements.

• The 2007-2008 post-election violence was characterized by systematic attacks based on ethnicity and political leanings, involving both spontaneous reactions and organized attacks coordinated by politicians and business leaders.
• Domestic efforts to achieve legal accountability failed when parliamentarians from both the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and Party of National Unity (PNU) united to defeat a government-sponsored bill to establish a Special Tribunal in early 2009.
• The ICC's Pre-Trial Chamber II (PTC II) authorized formal investigations on 31 March 2010 after determining that the Kenyan government was unwilling to assure legal accountability for the victims of the post-election violence.
• On 23 January 2012, the PTC II confirmed charges of crimes against humanity against four individuals: William Ruto and Joshua Sang in one case, and Uhuru Kenyatta and Francis Muthaura in another.
• The ICC process has contributed to positive changes in Kenya's judiciary, including the appointment of a new Chief Justice and Deputy Chief Justice, and the separation of the offices of the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP).
• While the ICC has provided a degree of retributive justice by bringing senior officials to account, it has had limited impact on restorative justice for the approximately half a million victims of the violence.
• The deterrent effect of the ICC is uncertain because the underlying material causes of violence–including inequality, discrimination, and contested land claims in the Rift Valley–have not been fundamentally addressed.

APA

Wanyeki, L. M. (2012). The International Criminal Court’s cases in Kenya: origin and impact. Institute for Security Studies. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper237.pdf

Chicago

Wanyeki, L. Muthoni. The International Criminal Court’s cases in Kenya: origin and impact. Institute for Security Studies, 2012. https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper237.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Wanyeki |first1=L. Muthoni |title=The International Criminal Court’s cases in Kenya: origin and impact |publisher=Institute for Security Studies |date=August 2012 |url=https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper237.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{wanyeki2012international, author = {Wanyeki, L. Muthoni}, title = {{The International Criminal Court’s cases in Kenya: origin and impact}}, institution = {Institute for Security Studies}, year = {2012}, month = aug, url = {https://issafrica.s3.amazonaws.com/site/uploads/Paper237.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }