Commentators now regularly declare that the International Criminal court (ICC) – and international criminal law as a whole – is in crisis. It is certainly the case that the ICC faces a number of operational challenges, and that these challenges worry its defenders. However, one unexamined rationalist assumption is that the Court’s inability to deliver consistent outputs will mean waning influence. This article explores an alternative constructivist theory that the ICC produces diffuse social impacts that are not necessarily tied to its operating effectively. This theory is tested statistically using Google Trends data. Specifically, the article examines whether ICC intervention in a country is associated with more internet search for ‘human rights’. Taking this to be a measure of changing discourse in countries, the article finds that some types of ICC involvement are associated with a far higher interest in human rights, and that this interest only increases as ICC involvement extends in time. In short, despite its disappointments, evidence suggests that the ICC still serves a socio-pedagogical function. Though it does not fit well within a rational evaluation framework, this kind of information should be considered in ICC performance reviews.

中文翻译：

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ICC 的隐藏影响：使用 Google 数据进行的创新评估

评论员现在经常宣称国际刑事法院（ICC）——以及整个国际刑法——处于危机之中。毫无疑问，国际刑事法院面临许多运营挑战，而这些挑战令其捍卫者感到担忧。然而，一个未经检验的理性主义假设是，法院无法提供一致的产出将意味着影响力减弱。本文探讨了另一种建构主义理论，即国际刑事法院产生的扩散社会影响不一定与其有效运作有关。使用谷歌趋势数据对这一理论进行了统计测试。具体而言，本文考察了国际刑事法院对一个国家的干预是否与更多的互联网搜索“人权”有关。以此作为衡量各国话语变化的衡量标准，文章发现，某些类型的国际刑事法院参与与对人权的更高兴趣有关，而且这种兴趣只会随着国际刑事法院参与的时间延长而增加。简而言之，尽管令人失望，但有证据表明国际刑事法院仍然发挥着社会教育功能。尽管它不适合合理的评估框架，但在 ICC 绩效评估中应考虑此类信息。