A Game Theoretic Model of Exit, Voice and Loyalty in Africa ' s troubled relationship with the International Criminal Court

Raphael Z. Mwatela; Halimu S. Shauri

Authors

Raphael Z. Mwatela Central China Normal University
Halimu S. Shauri Pwani University

Abstract

Africa consists of the single largest group of member states to the International Criminal Court (ICC). This membership was stronger during the negotiations leading up to the adoption of the Rome Statute in 1998 that paved the way to the creation of this court. Lately, this support has waned and now the African bloc led by the African Union has become amongst the fiercest critics of the ICC. This has seen Burundi becoming the first country to officially pull out of the Statute. The key question is therefore why such a region which highly supported the creation of the court has developed a love-hate relationship with it? This paper employs the ideas by Albert O. Hirschman (1970) to develop a Game Theory model in understanding and explaining the Exit and Voice games of the African block, and come up with costs and payouts for these actions. The authors use qualitative data analysis of existing texts to develop logical propositions. It is noted that exiting the ICC for Africa is a costly option for both the ICC and Africa with minimal payout. The optimum act is for Africa to remain within the ICC and employ voice to push for reforms.

Keywords: International Criminal Court, Game Theory, Exit, Voice and Loyalty

Raphael Z. Mwatela, Ph.D Candidate, Central China Normal University Email: mwatelaraph@yahoo.com

Halimu S. Shauri, Associate Professor, Pwani University Email: hshauri@yahoo.com

References

Barakso, M., and Schaffner, B. F. 2008. "Exit, Voice and Interest Group Governance", American Politics Research, 36(2): 186-209.

Beitzel, T. and Castle, T. 2013. "Achieving Justice Through the International Criminal Court in Uganda" ' International Criminal Justice Review, 23(1): 41-55.

Bosco, D. (29.3.2013). Why is the International Criminal Court picking only on Africa? The Washington Post.

Clark, W. R., Golder, M., and Golder, S. N. 2012. An Exit, Voice and Loyalty Model of Politics. https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/pegroup/files/clark_golder.pdf, accessed 13.3.2018

Dugard, J. 2013. "Palestine and the International Criminal Court", Journal of International Criminal Justice II, 563-570.

Ellis-Petersen, H. (14.3.2018). The Guardina. https://www.theguardian.com/world/

Gehlbach, S. 2006. "A Formal Model of Exit and Voice", Rationality and Society, 18(4): 395-418.

Halpern, G. 2007. Africa and The International Criminal Court. The

American Non Governmental Coalition for The International

Criminal Court.

Hirschman, A. O. 1970. Exit, Voice and Loyalty: A Response to Decline in Firms, Organizations and States. Cambridge Mass: Havard University Press.

Igunza, E. (1.2.2017). BBC. http://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa38826073 International Criminal Court. 2017. Assembly of State Parties Activates Court's Jurisdiction over crime of aggression. https://www.icccpi.int/Pages/item.aspx name=pr1350, accessed 29.3.2018.

Lodge, J. 1975. "Britain and the EEC: Exit, Voice or Loyalty?", Cooperation and Conflict, X, 199-216.

Mukundi, G. 2012. Africa and the ICC. Open Society.

Africa ' s troubled relationship with the International Criminal Court

Nakandha, S. E., Ateenyi, K. A., and Kot, J.-P. 2012. Africa and The International Criminal Court: Mending Fences. Avocates Sans

Frontieres.

Nye, J. S. 2008. "Public Diplomacy and Soft Power", The Annals of American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 616, 94-109.

Phillipe, X. 2006. "The Principles of Universal Jurisdiction and

Complementary: How do the two principles intermesh?",

International Review of The Red Cross, 88(862): 375-398.

Plessis, M. D., Maluwa, T., and O'Reilly, A. 2013. Africa and the

International Criminal Court. www.chathamhouse.org, accessed

3.2018.

Randall, K. C. 1988. "Universal Jurisdiction under International Law", Texas Law Review, 66, 785-788. Reuters. (10.9.2018). Trump administration takes aim at International Criminal Court, PLO. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usatrump-icc/trump-administration-takes-aim-at-internationalcriminal-court-plo-idUSKCN1LQ076, accessed 7.1.2019.

Schabas, W. A. 2004. "United States Hostility to the International Criminal Court: It's all about the Security Council", European Journal of International Law, 15(4): 701-720.

Stalvant, C. E. 1976. "Exit vs Voice Option:Six Cases of Swedish Participation in International Organizations", Cooperation and Conflict, XI, 41-56.

The Global Campaign for Ratification and Implementation of The Kampala Amendments on Crime of Aggression. 2018. The Global Campaign for Ratification and Implementation of The Kampala Amendments on Crime of Aggression. https://crimeofaggression.info/the-role-ofstates/why-and-how-to-implement-the-amendments/ accessed 4.4.2018.

United Nations. (29.11.2010). Ammendments to the Rome Statute.

https://asp.icccpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/RC2010/amendments/cn.651.2010-engcoA.pdf, accessed 29.3.2018.

United Nations General Assembly. (n.d.). Rome Statute of International Criminal Court. http://treaties.un.org, accessed 21.2.2018.

United States Senate. (23.7.1998). Is a u.n. international criminal court in the us national interest?

https://www.govinfo.gov/content/pkg/CHRG105shrg50976/pdf/CHRG-105shrg50976.pdf, accessed 7.1.2019.