In defense of a metaphor: Reply to Shai Dothan’s critique of applying the Swiss cheese model on deterrence and the International Criminal Court

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Shai Dothan rejects my submission that the Swiss cheese model of accident prevention provides a useful framework for a convincing deterrence-based defence of the International Criminal Court (ICC). I believe that Dothan’s critique is mistaken. Proceeding via a restatement and an expansion of my original argument this paper explains why. First, I outline the original idea of coupling a deterrence-based argument for the ICC to the Swiss cheese model. Secondly, I outline the core of Dothan’s critique. Thirdly, I elaborate on the Swiss cheese model as it was originally developed in the context of risk analysis and accident prevention. Fourthly, I demonstrate the usefulness of this model also in the context of traditional domestic crime prevention. Fifthly, I connect these points back to the context of international criminal justice. Finally, I conclude by returning to Dothan’s critique using the previous findings to reject his argument.
Original languageEnglish
JournalJournal of International Criminal Justice
Volume19
Issue number4
Pages (from-to)893–912
Number of pages20
ISSN1478-1387
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2021

    Research areas

  • Faculty of Law - Punishment, Crime, Deterrence, Prevention, crime prevention, International Criminal Court, The ICC, The Swiss Cheese Model, Accident prevention, Mass atrocities, genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes

ID: 232133031