Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Adopted by the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court, Jul. 17 1998, UN Doc. A/CONF.183/9 [hereinafter cited as Rome Statute ]. عربي, 中文, English, Français, Ελληνικά, Русский, Español.

International Criminal Court, Report on the activities of the International Criminal Court, ICC-ASP/13/37 (Nov. 19, 2014), available online.

Narrative information on field activities in situation-related countries: Côte d’Ivoire (at 6); Darfur, Sudan (at 7); Democratic Republic of the Congo (at 8); Kenya (at 10); Libya (at 11); Mali (at 11); Uganda (at 12).

International Criminal Court, The Registry, Public Information and Outreach: Engaging with Communities, Advance Copy (Nov. 17, 2014), available online.

Report of activities in the situation-related countries from January 2011 to October 2014.

International Criminal Court, Report on the review of the organizational structure of the Registry, ICC-ASP/13/26 (Oct. 28, 2014), available online.

An update on the current status of the “ReVision” project.

International Criminal Court, Interacting with Communities, ICC-PIDS-FS-09-001/14_Eng (Jul. 8, 2014), available online.

Two page fact sheet.

International Criminal Court, Report on activities and programme performance of the International Criminal Court for the year 2013, ICC-ASP/13/19 (May 27, 2014), available online.

See Public Information and Outreach, at 26; External Relations and Cooperation, at 28; Field Operations, at 28; and Information and Communications Technologies, at 30.

International Criminal Court, Report of the Bureau on the Strategic planning process of the International Criminal Court, ICC-ASP/12/48 (Nov. 8, 2013), available online.

See Strategic approach to communications in the field at 3.

International Criminal Court, Report on the activities of the Court, ICC-ASP/12/28 (Oct. 21, 2013), available online.

See Public information and outreach, at 14.

International Criminal Court, Behind the Scenes: The Registry of the International Criminal Court, ICC-PIDS-BSR-001/10_Eng (Jun. 28, 2011), available online.

See Public Information and Outreach, at 35.

International Criminal Court, Outreach Unit, Outreach Report 2010 (Nov. 26, 2010), available online.

This is an extensive report on the field outreach activities conducted by the ICC’s Outreach Unit in the previous year. As of February 8, 2015, this was the last such report publicly released by the Court.

“The Outreach Unit of the International Criminal Court conducts activities to reach communities affected by alleged crimes in situations and cases brought before the Court. The Outreach Unit’s programmes aim to cultivate a level of awareness and understanding of the ICC’s mandate and mode of operations, promote access to and understanding of judicial proceedings, and foster realistic expectations about the Court’s work.”

International Criminal Court, Report of the Court on the public information strategy 2011–2013, ICC-ASP/9/29 (Nov. 22, 2010), available online.

“This strategy establishes a framework for Court-wide public information planning, with an emphasis on the next three years. It sets out common public information objectives and supporting activities that can be undertaken within existing resources. The strategy also serves as a platform from which detailed action plans may be developed, including annual plans for Court-wide public information activities, or those with a particular geographic or thematic focus. Detailed annual action plans will be prepared as part of the Court’s budget planning process to reflect external and internal developments, the dynamic nature of public information requirements and availability of resources.”

International Criminal Court, Review Conference of the Rome Statute, Focal points’ compilation of examples of projects aimed at strengthening domestic jurisdictions to deal with Rome Statute Crimes, RC/ST/CM/INF.2 (May 30, 2010), available online.

See section Outreach and conflict mapping in Sierra Leone: 2000–2004 in Example E, NPWJ Activities in support of Implementation of the Principle of Complementarity, at 13.

Lecture by Sonia Robla, Chief of ICC’s Public Information and Documentation Section, The role of effective communications in fulfilling the ICC’s mandate: challenges, achievements and the way ahead (Supranational Criminal Law Lectures, Leiden University, Mar. 17, 2010), available online.

International Criminal Court, Outreach Unit, Outreach Report 2009 (Nov. 1, 2009), available online.

International Criminal Court, Outreach Unit, Outreach Report 2008 (Jan. 22, 2009), available online.

International Criminal Court, Outreach Unit, Outreach Report 2007 (Dec. 11, 2007), available online.

International Criminal Court, Integrated Strategy for External Relations, Public Information and Outreach (Apr. 18, 2007), available online.

“[S]ets out the goals, framework and mechanisms for the external communication activities of the International Criminal Court. It is an “integrated” strategy in that it coordinates the external relations, public information and outreach work of the Presidency, Office of the Prosecutor and the Registry; ensuring that these diverse activities fall within a common strategy, with mutually reinforcing messages, activities and goals.”

International Criminal Court, Assembly of State Parties, Strategic Plan for Outreach of the International Criminal Court, ICC-ASP/5/12 (Sep. 29, 2006), available online.

The first part describes the general framework within which outreach activities are conducted. Factors influencing the planning and implementation of the Court’s outreach activities are described, including the context in which the Court operates and the particular needs of target groups and the communication tools used. The Court’s outreach activities are closely synchronised with the phases of judicial proceedings. Lastly, it looks at the resources that will be needed to implement the strategy with emphasis on the synergies that can be derived from internal coordination or from relationships with external partners. It also explains how the Outreach Unit will be organized within the Public Information and Documentation Section. The second part of the document describes the implementation in the medium term of the Strategic Plan for Outreach in the different situations referred to the Court.

International Criminal Court, Assembly of State Parties, Strategic Plan of the International Criminal Court, ICC-ASP/5/6 (Aug. 4, 2006), available online.

International Criminal Court, Report on the Activities of the Court, ICC-ASP/4/16 (Sep. 16, 2005) at 12, available online.

“The Registry is responsible for the deployment, management and support of the Court’s field presences. As recent experience has confirmed, field activities face many challenges. Ensuring the security of staff as well as victims and witnesses is a priority, which requires the Court to readily adapt to changing situations on the ground. Transportation and logistics are also omnipresent concerns, as is ensuring secure, reliable communications.”

Tim Gallimore, International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, The ICTR Outreach Program: Integrating Justice and Reconciliation (Nov. 8, 2006), available online.

“[I]t is essential that the Rwandan people have an understanding of the work of the Tribunal. To accomplish this, the Tribunal has a sustained strategic communication program using a range of techniques to explain its work and relevance to audiences in Rwanda as well as the international community. The ICTR Outreach Program is the primary channel to ensure that the concerned people are informed about the work of the Tribunal.”

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY Annual Outreach Report 2013 (May 2014), available online.

“For more than a decade, the Outreach Programme has been in an on-going dialogue between the Tribunal and the affected communities of the former Yugoslavia, aiming to ensure our work is meaningful to them. It has confronted a range of challenges, from distance and language barriers to the spread of inaccurate information about the Tribunal’s decisions. Today, effective outreach is needed as much as ever before: the Tribunal is now hearing some of the most important cases in its history, and the Outreach Programme must be equipped to rise to that challenge.”

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY Annual Outreach Report 2012 (Jul. 2013), available online.

“In 2012, the Outreach Programme opened up significant new channels for communication and information-sharing by establishing a strong online presence. As described in this report, the Outreach Programme has extensively promoted and utilized the ICTY’s website, as well as its Facebook, YouTube, and Twitter accounts, to make the judicial activites of the Tribunal more widely available and to promote upcoming outreach activities. The steadily growing number of users and followers of these online resources demonstrates the value that individuals around the world place on having direct access to information about the Tribunal.”

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, ICTY Annual Outreach Report 2011 (Mar. 2012), available online.

“[T]he Tribunal’s work is far from complete. We need to ensure that the Tribunal’s achievements resonate throughout the world and, most importantly, among the communities in the former Yugoslavia. Our Outreach Programme is at the core of the Tribunal’s relationship with the countries of the region. It has been a personal privilege for me to see Outreach grow from its modest beginnings to the dynamic, ambitious and creative programme it is now. I saw it mature, I saw it change shape. But one thing remained constant: the conviction that for justice to be done, it must be seen and accepted.”

Special Court for Sierra Leone, 10th Annual Report of the President of the SCSL (Sep. 9, 2013) at 28–29. Available online, archived.

Brief summary of outreach activities of the ad hoc tribunal.

Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Communications Team, Statement at Hague Working Group Roundtable on ICC Communications Strategy (May 15, 2014), available online.

Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Comments and Recommendations af Coalition Teams to the Twelfth Session of the Assembly of States Parties (Nov. 28, 2013), available online.

“The present document represents a compilation of the consensus achieved in the Teams on issues of critical importance, some of which will be addressed at the twelfth session of the Assembly of States Parties in The Hague.”

Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Communications Team, Comments and Recommendations to the Eleventh Session of the Assembly of States Parties (Nov. 9, 2012), available online.

“This paper, prepared by the Coalition’s Team on Communications (Team), highlights key aspects of the communication activities conducted by the International Criminal Court (Court) in 2012 and further underlines the vital role of states parties and the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) in its 11th session in supporting these crucial functions of the Court.”

William Pace, Coalition for the International Criminal Court, The role and importance of communication for a fair, effective, independent and efficient ICC (Jul. 20, 2012), available online.

“In the ICC’s historic 10th anniversary year, which will see the completion of its first trial, the Coalition perceives a growing threat to one of the crucial aspects of the Court’s operations, outreach and public information. This letter sets out to illustrate the importance of these Court activities in ensuring justice is visible and in maintaining an open dialogue with those most affected by its judicial processes, and further underlines the benefits brought by this engagement to the Court’s overall cost-effectiveness, efficiency and fair and independent functioning, as well as to the broader objectives of the Rome Statute.”

Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Communications Team, Comments and Recommendations to the Tenth Session of the Assembly of States Parties (Dec. 1, 2011), available online.

“This paper, prepared by the Coalition’s NGO Team on Communications (‘the Team’), highlights key aspects of the communication activities conducted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) in 2011 and further underlines the vital role of states parties and the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) in its tenth session in supporting these crucial non-judicial functions of the Court.”

Kristen Cibelli & Tamy Guberek, EPIIC Justice Unknown? Justice Unsatisfied? Bosnian NGOs Speak about the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (Nov. 2000). Available online, archived.

“This report will show that local non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in Bosnia and Herzegovina—which work on a daily basis with issues related to the Tribunal—are not well informed about the process of international justice and have many misconceptions about it. The Tribunal, rather than being seen as bringing individual accountability, is inadvertently reinforcing the same divisions that divided the country during the war.”

Fédération Internationale des Droits de l’Homme (FIDH), Outreach in Victims’ Rights Before the ICC (Feb. 2007). Available online, archived.

Short report on ICC Outreach, including the importance of outreach, who is responsible for outreach, problems associated with lack of outreach, and means of outreach.

Stella Ndirangu, Hague Working Group Statement at Hague Working Group Roundtable on ICC Communications Strategy (May 15, 2014), available online.

“The court needs to think of how to respond to situations [...] that largely discredit the court. What role do State parties play, especially in situations that the registry or OTP perceives too political to engage in? What is the role of the ASP in the absence of court communication especially in political situations?”

Patrick Vinck & Phuong N. Pham, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative & United Nations Development Programme, Searching for Lasting Peace: Population-Based Survey on Perceptions and Attitudes about Peace, Security and Justice in Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (Sep. 2014). Available online, archived.

“This report presents the results of a mixed-methods study conducted in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo between November and December 2013, to assess the population’s perceptions, knowledge, and attitudes about peace, security and justice. The study included a survey of 5,166 randomly selected adult residents, to provide results that are representative of the adult population of territories and major urban areas in the provinces of North Kivu and South Kivu, and the district of Ituri. […] Awareness and knowledge about the International Criminal Court has increased significantly (53% have heard of the Court in 2013 compared to 28% in 2008), but most respondents believe that the national court system is more appropriate to achieve justice for war-related crimes (48%), and just one in five respondents said the Court had had positive impacts on peace (20%) and/or justice (22%).”

Phuong N. Pham & Patrick Vinck, Harvard Humanitarian Initiative, Fragile Peace, Elusive Justice: Population-Based Survey on Perceptions and Attitudes about Security and Justice in Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (Sep. 2014).Available online, archived.

“This report presents the results of a mixed-methods study conducted in Abidjan, Cote d’Ivoire, to assess the population’s perceptions, knowledge, and attitudes about security and justice. The study included a survey of 1,000 randomly selected adult residents […] A majority of respondents had heard about the ICC (94%), most frequently on television (78%). However, just 5 percent described their knowledge of the Court as good or very good. Respondents’ perceptions of the ICC were similar to those they held regarding state institutions, as 67 percent reported little or no trust in the ICC. When asked more openly about the ICC, about one-half of the respondents were positive about the Court. Respondents’ views on the effect of the ICC on peace and justice, however, remain divided. About one-third said that the Court had a positive impact on peace (35%), and 34 percent said the Courthad a negative impact on peace. The others were neutral (31%). Similar views were expreseed regarding the current and future impact of the Court on justice.”

Patrick Vinck & Phuong N. Pham, Human Rights Center, Building Peace, Seeking Justice: A Population-based Survey on Attitudes About Accountability and Social Reconstruction in the Central African Republic (Aug. 2010). Available online, archived.

“This report provides the findings from a survey of 1,879 adults, residents of CAR, randomly selected in the capital city of Bangui, and the prefectures of Lobaye, Ombella M’Poko, Ouham, and Ouham Pende. These prefectures encompass a large geographic area representing 52 percent of the total population of CAR and have experienced varying levels of exposure to the conflicts. Locally trained teams conducted the interviews between November and December 2009.”

Patrick Vinck, Phuong N. Pham, Suliman Baldo, & Rachel Shigekane, Human Rights Center, Living with Fear: A Population-based Survey on Attitudes about Peace, Justice, and Social Reconstruction in Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (Aug. 2008). Available online.

“This report presents the results of a population survey…conducted from September to December 2007 among a sample population of 2,620 individuals in the Ituri district in Oriental province and the provinces of North and South Kivu. […] While there is support for the ICC as a means of achieving justice in the DRC (26% of respondents), there is low awareness among the population of eastern Congo (27%) and in Kinshasa (28%) of the ICC or of the first scheduled trial against Thomas Lubanga in eastern DRC (28%) and Kinshasa (29%). Nevertheless a majority of those in eastern DRC who had heard about the ICC would like to participate in ICC activities (67%), but only 12 percent know how to access it.”

ICC/NGO Biannual Meetings, International Criminal Court Outreach activities: Informal NGO Observations and Recommendations (Oct. 2010). Available online, archived.

“[T]he Team has conducted an informal survey with a number of NGO members working in situation countries. The results compiled below are not meant as a comparative or comprehensive study but rather to provide an overview of informal observations on the Court’s outreach activities with the aim of facilitating an informed exchange of views. Please note that the remarks made below are focused on the situations where the ICC is conducting its outreach activities. However members of the Communications Team have again insisted on the importance of extending outreach activities to situations under preliminary investigations by the ICC prosecutor.”

International Bar Association, ICC External Communications: Delivering Information and Fairness (Jun. 2011), available online.

“Given the sensitive nature of the International Criminal Court (ICC or the ‘Court’) proceedings and the Court’s role in promoting international compliance with the highest standards of justice, a clear and cohesive framework for external communications is essential. Reports and statements made in relation to cases before the Court can be misinterpreted given the complexity of the trials and the political dynamics surrounding them. Moreover, adverse public comments by ICC officials or by parties to a trial can mar the proceedings.”

International Bar Association, Balancing Rights: The International Criminal Court at a Procedural Crossroads (May 2008), available online.

International Bar Association, ICC Monitoring and Outreach Programme: Second Outreach Report (May 2007), available online.

“The IBA conducts outreach activities with the legal community and civil society in countries such as India, Sudan and Uganda and with the wider IBA membership, including its 198 member bar associations and law societies. In the course of its outreach activities, the IBA provides updates on the ICC’s work; provides a forum for discussion and debate on the impact of the ICC in the society concerned; and works with lawyers to develop advocacy and litigation strategies to strengthen the capacity of national legal systems to investigate and prosecute international crimes.”

International Bar Association, ICC Monitoring and Outreach Programme: First Outreach Report (Jun. 2006), available online.

“In October 2005, the IBA started a new ICC Monitoring and Outreach Programme funded by the MacArthur Foundation. [...] The outreach component to the Programme aims to deepen understanding of the place of the ICC both within the broader landscape of international justice and particular contexts. In this respect, the IBA works in partnership with bar associations, lawyers and civil society organisations in key countries including India, Sudan, and Uganda; with bar associations on the role of lawyers in advancing ratification and implementation of the Rome Statute; and holds sessions on the ICC at regional and international IBA conferences.”

Clara Ramírez-Barat & Maya Karwande, International Center for Transitional Justice Outreach Strategies in International and Hybrid Courts (Apr. 2010), available online.

“In late 2009, the Research Unit of ICTJ began a new project to examine in detail outreach initiatives for prosecutions, truth-telling, and reparations programs, with the aim of providing practitioners help in designing effective outreach strategies for transitional justice measures. The central aim of the project is to produce tools and usable knowledge in order to make outreach programs more sophisticated and sensitive to the challenges of current transitional justice processes. The project will also seek to reflect further on the general importance of outreach as a component of transitional justice initiatives.”

Gideon Boas & Gabriel Oosthuizen, International Criminal Law Services Suggestions for Future Lessons-Learned Studies: The Experience of Other International and Hybrid Criminal Courts of Relevance to the International Criminal Court (Jan. 2010) at 11, available online.

“Public information and outreach are as much core functions as are investigations, trials and the like—unless public information and outreach are done properly, the ICC, based far from situation areas, will fail in several of its statutory objectives, and securing the necessary support from, for example, witnesses and effecting redress, will be placed at risk.”

Tara Susman-Peña, et al., Internews Why Information Matters: A foundation for resilience (Nov. 2014), available online.

“While information is so fundamental to surviving and thriving within our complex global environment, it is rarely addressed directly, considered strategically, or integrated effectively across policy and planning for resilience. When information does appear in resilience literature, it usually has a minor role, and is often conceived as simple messaging to affected populations, or as a tool in coordinating responders and resources.”

Lawyers Committee for Human Rights, Effective Public Outreach for the International Criminal Court (Jan. 2004). Available online, archived.

“An important test for the new International Criminal Court is how it will be perceived in the eyes of the communities affected by its operations. Whether the ICC will be seen as a legitimate and credible institution will largely depend on its ability to inform and engage about its work with the broader populations in the countries where it takes up cases. An Outreach Program that will effectively explain what the ICC is and does to the populations it directly concerns, and on whose behalf it acts, is a prerequisite for the Court to be viewed as valid and credible.”

No Peace Without Justice, Outreach and the International Criminal Court (Sep. 2004). Available online, archived.

“The aims of the institution serve a far greater number of people than those who may be called before it. Further, for any institution to succeed in these aims, it has to ensure that the majority of the populous feel confident that it is acting in their interests. Without their feeling of ownership—of their being stakeholders in the judicial process and ultimately the benefactors of the process—no institution established to reach the aims outlined above can hope to succeed.”

Panthea Lee, Reboot & Internews, Trust, Influence, and Connectivity: Understanding Information Ecosystems in Pakistan’s Tribal Areas (Aug. 22, 2013), available online.

“Information and media play a critical role in furthering human development and good governance the world over. In Pakistan’s Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), a host of factors constrain their ability to do so. Decades of crisis, underpinned by poor governance and regional conflict, have kept the region in a perpetual state of instability, poverty, and isolation. Media accessibility and information flows are consequently limited, leaving FATA’s residents without the information they need to live safer, more productive lives.”

Ugandan Coalition for the International Criminal Court, Recommendations from the UCICC Regional Sensitization Workshops (Mar. 2006), available online.

“From March 24–31, 2006, the Ugandan Coalition for the International Criminal Court (UCICC) held regional sensitization workshops in Northern and Eastern Uganda (Gulu, Kitgum, Lira and Soroti). Below are recommendations to the International Criminal Court that came out of these sensitization workshops:…”

David Cohen, ‘Hybrid’ Justice in East Timor, Sierra Leone, and Cambodia: ‘Lessons Learned’ and Prospects for the Future, 43 Stan. J. Int’l L. 1 (2007), Lexis/Nexis paywall.

Discusses the structure and lessons learned from the SPSC, SCSL, and ECCC, including outreach efforts and additional outreach needs.

Sara Darehshori, Lessons for Outreach from the Ad Hoc Tribunals, The Special Court for Sierra Leone, and the International Criminal Court, 14 New Eng. J. Int’l & Comp. L. 299 (Dec. 3, 2008). Available online, archived.

Overview and history of outreach efforts and challenges from past ad hoc tribunals and the ICC.

Varda Hussain, Sustaining Judicial Rescues: The Role of Outreach and Capacity-Building Efforts In War Crimes Tribunals, 45 Va. J. Int’l L. 547 (2005), Lexis/Nexis paywall.

Discusses capacity building and integrates some discussion of outreach for ICTY, ICTR, Sierra Leone, East Timor, and so on.

Norman Henry Pentelovitch, Seeing Justice Done: The Importance of Prioritizing: Outreach Efforts at International Criminal Tribunals, 39 Geo. J. Int’l L. 445 (2008), HeinOnline paywall.

“Though these tribunals [ICTY, ICTR, SCSL] help to bring criminals to a form of justice, the victimized populations are often left behind as the judicial process rumbles forward. How, and to what extent, do international legal processes inform such a population of their work? What is the most effective way to reach out to victims of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes? Why is it even important to think about the victims, when so much time, money and energy needs to be devoted the process of putting a mass murderer on trial and ensuring that such a trial is fair?”

Victor Peskin, Courting Rwanda: The Promises and Pitfalls of the ICTR Outreach Programme, 3 J. Int’l Crim. Just. 950, 953–54 (2005). Available online, archived.

“This article aims to assess the contribution of the Outreach Programme at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). The author introduces and discusses two general approaches or models of outreach that international criminal tribunals may pursue. The transparency model of outreach seeks to make a tribunal’s opaque legal process more visible by disseminating basic information about the court to communities recovering from human rights abuses. The engagement model goes beyond only informing these communities by facilitating frequent and extensive tribunal interaction and dialogue through seminars, town hall presentations, and training of legal professionals. Despite some progress with limited resources, the efforts of the Outreach Programme of the ICTR to engage the Rwandan population and to make the Tribunal more transparent have been ineffective. The article recommends that the ICTR bolster its outreach efforts by helping to train Rwanda’s judiciary, appointing more Rwandans to serve in positions of authority at the Tribunal, and engaging domestic and international non-governmental organizations in outreach programme partnerships.”

David Pimentel, Technology in a War Crimes Tribunal: Recent Experience at the ICTY, 12 Wm. & Mary Bill Rts. J. 715 at 721 (2004). Available online, archived.

“There is a collective consciousness at the ICTY that its purpose is not limited to carrying out individual justice in the cases brought before it. The institution is filled with idealistic individuals motivated by being part of something historic and symbolic—a message to the world that such atrocities will not go unpunished. A collective condemnation of such crimes, carried out not in a spirit of vengeance but in one of law and order, is important to healing the region and increasing the deterrent pressure on the rest of the world. The world needs assurances that there are consequences for such crimes, and that they will be meted out fairly and justly.”

Richard H. Steinberg, Olga Werby & Christopher Werby, UCLAForum.com— ICT & ICC OTP Case Study, 6 Transforming Gov’t: People, Process and Pol’y 358 (Jun. 10, 2012). Available paywall, online.

“The structure of the Forum stands on a carefully balanced triad of ideas: the Prosecutor’s question and framing (together with extensive background materials), the detailed analysis of the question by the Invited Experts, and a discussion open to the online public. The framing of the Prosecutor’s question provides the context of the problem. The Invited Expert Opinions give in-depth points of view on the Prosecutor’s question. And the online debate opens the Prosecutor’s question to extensive vetting by Invited Experts, legal scholars, politicians, and a wider audience of interested individuals.”

Patrick Vinck & Phuong N. Pham, Outreach Evaluation: The International Criminal Court in the Central African Republic, IJTJ (Nov. 13, 2010). Oxford Journals paywall, EBSCO Host paywall.

“Public information and outreach have emerged as one of the fundamental activities of transitional justice mechanisms. Their objective is to raise public awareness, knowledge and participation among affected communities. Despite this increased focus, understanding of the role, impact and effectiveness of various outreach strategies remains limited, as is understanding of communities’ knowledge, perceptions and attitudes about transitional justice mechanisms, including their expectations. The study discussed in this article was designed to evaluate International Criminal Court (ICC) outreach programs in the Central African Republic. Specifically, the article examines how the public gathers information about the ICC and what factors influence knowledge levels and perceptions in relation to the Court. The findings show that mass media and informational meetings are effective at raising awareness and knowledge, but that the lack of access to formal media and reliance on informal channels of communication create a group of ‘information poor’ individuals. The authors suggest that outreach must be local in order to respond to individuals’ needs and expectations and to ensure their access to information.”