At (?) The Hague

Thanks to the world of international broadcast television (and to the former Serbian President), the entire world should (SHOULD!) know now where I'm living. A certain arguably left-leaning American broadcast channel liked to display an on-screen map of Europe and The Netherlands while reporters' voice-overs explained the events of last weekend in a very business-like manner. A little red dot on the map indicated where The Hague (also known as Den Haag, s'Gravenhage, and La Haye) is located. Other stations chose to send their reporters out into the rain; the poor, drenched souls reported that Slobodan Milosevic was found "lifeless" in his cell at The Hague. (At The Hague. At?) The death of this prominent figure has brought many questions to the forefront, the least of them being Where in the World is Clara the Brit? Because the trial was not completed, because the implementation of the tribunal cost many UN members quite a chunk of cash, because some claim Milo did not "see justice," and because the most high-profile defendant at a very expensive temporary court in a small city on the shore of the North Sea was never convicted of anything, the media began questioning the reputation of international courts as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of international criminal justice as a whole. It must not be forgotten, however, that this tribunal has provided international law with a legacy on which to build and has set the foundation for the creation of a permament international court. True, things did not go as planned. True, flaws of the system were certainly made very clear. But should the media choose to concentrate on the more positive contributions the tribunal has made to society, I--for one--would not complain.