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

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.