The 1960s was a decade of racial progress in the US, but also of anger that not more was achieved. One response to the civil unrest in America’s cities was an executive order issued by President Johnson requiring firms contracting with the federal government to implement affirmative action to increase the employment of African Americans.

In the United States, courts have played a key role in defining socio-economic rights and in enforcing the government's obligations to provide and protect those rights.

Drawing together academic and practitioner contributors from Africa and beyond, this collection highlights the challenges that international justice has faced in addressing atrocities in Africa. Assembling nearly two years of critical debates convened by Oxford Transitional Justice Research, the collection of nearly 60 essays explores the work of the ICC and other judicial processes at a crucial stage in the development of international justice in Africa.

The principle of independence of the judiciary, while fundamental to a society based on the rule of law, is sometimes used to preclude the evaluation of courts. Such an approach is mistaken: judges and courts should be both independent and subject to evaluation.