Observers of international courts (ICs) note that several ICs carry out a broad range of non-judicial activities, ranging from legal training workshops and public seminars to visits with public officials. Despite the growing prominence of these activities, they have received little attention from scholars. Seeking to fill this gap, this article examines these activities as a form of ‘judicial diplomacy’, asking how and why ICs employ judicial diplomacy. The article argues that ICs use judicial diplomacy as a means of legitimation. They seek to boost institutional legitimacy through their judicial diplomacy by targeting the public and communicating norm-referential narratives about their processes and outcomes. This argument bears out in case studies on the judicial diplomacy of the African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights and the Caribbean Court of Justice. Both courts are shown to have judicial diplomacy that is public-oriented and people-centred. This argument has important implications for literature on international courts and the legitimacy of international institutions.

中文翻译：

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司法外交：国际法院和合法化

国际法院 (ICs) 的观察员指出，一些 ICs 开展范围广泛的非司法活动，从法律培训讲习班和公开研讨会到与公职人员的访问。尽管这些活动日益突出，但它们很少受到学者的关注。为了填补这一空白，本文将这些活动视为“司法外交”的一种形式，询问 IC 如何以及为何采用司法外交。文章认为，IC 使用司法外交作为一种合法化手段。他们通过以公众为目标并就其过程和结果传达规范参考的叙述来寻求通过其司法外交来提高制度合法性。这一论点在非洲人权和人民权利法院和加勒比法院的司法外交案例研究中得到证实。两个法院都显示出以公共为导向、以人为本的司法外交。这一论点对有关国际法院和国际机构合法性的文献具有重要意义。