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THE BANALITY OF GOOD
“a prestigious institution on the world stage” one that would “add a visual dimen¬
sion to the perception of the Court by the outside world” as “the public face of the
institution — an emblem of fairness and dignity and a symbol of justice and hope.”*4
The Report paints a different, mixed, picture. It has stated that the “working
environment at the headquarters in The Hague too often does not live up to
the spectacular office accommodation provided”*, and that there is a mixed
satisfaction score of the Court’s staff, as well as stagnation in their respective
career progression and development. On the other hand, the Report also concludes
that “[w]hile the fact that the instances mentioned have occurred since the Court’s
establishment and at a variety of different times signals a non-collegial working
environment, the whole picture is more complex.”*° Moreover, they noted that “it
is certainly not the case that lack of collegiality was or is the custom or a systemic
pattern of conduct and occurrence in all the Chambers and at all times,”*’ and
that “collegial relations, as well as a collegiate atmosphere, fully prevail in the
Presidency and in a majority of the Chambers.”** The picture that the Report
paints is one of a complex organization that is having troubles. It is in no way a
perfect organization, and the people working for it, while dedicated, can at times
be uncollegial, at others disrespectful, and at others still, abusive. But they can
also be dedicated, helpful, mindful of others, perform quite complex tasks under
difficult circumstances, with mixed results.
And this is where I welcome the Report’s honesty and approach. The Report
paints a picture not of a shining city atop a hill bringing peace through justice,
but of a bureaucratic institution with some noticeable cracks. Afterall, the Report
does give 384 recommendations for the improvement of the ICC. But what it does
well is to bring the Court from the realm of the imaginary, from a monument on
a high pedestal, to the realm of the real, the everyday, the ordinary. In Arendt’s
words, a bit banal, but working towards one of the most noble of pursuits, bringing
justice where previously there was none. And while we want our villains to be
struggling, and ordinary, and bumbling, we want our heroes to be the opposite:
shiny, dedicated, competent and succeeding. Unfortunately, given the constraints
of international bureaucracies, what we oftentimes get is something like the ICC.
Finally, the Report also gives me hope. Hope that the ICC (the organization) will
take the recommendations to heart and will act on them with all deliberate speed.
At the end I am left with a quote from the Report itself, speaking of collegiality:
34 Report on the Future Permanent Premises of the International Criminal Court, ASP, ICC¬
ASP/5/16, 31 October 2006; also see Resnik — Curtis, Representing Justice, 275-281.
35 The Report para 205.
36 The Report para. 466
37 Ibid para 467 (emphasis in the original).
38 Ibid (footnotes removed).
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