Sanctioning Perpetrators of International Crimes: A Vignette Study

Catrien Bijleveld*, Margareta Blažević, Diana Bociga Gelvez, Mirza Buljubasic

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

Limited research has been devoted to factors impacting the perceived justness of sentences for international crimes. We presented respondents with a vignette in which such a hypothetical crime was described, as well as some contextual information; in the vignette, the perpetrator received a sentence that was based on similar historical cases. In the study, the rank of the perpetrator, the apology by the perpetrator, and the location of the trial (in the country where the crime was committed or at the International Criminal Court) were manipulated. Respondents were asked whether they believed the sentence was just or whether they would hand down a different sentence. Qualitative questions were included to elucidate respondents' choices. Our mixed methods analyses reveal how apology, over and above strong geographic differences, plays a significant and dominant role in perceived justness. Keywords

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)805-826
Number of pages22
JournalInternational Criminal Law Review
Volume22
Issue number4
Early online date21 Mar 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - Jul 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022

Keywords

  • apology
  • atrocity crimes
  • punishment
  • vignette design

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Sanctioning Perpetrators of International Crimes: A Vignette Study'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this