Finalist, Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, 2008
Globe and Mail Top Nonfiction Book, 2008
In this groundbreaking investigation, Erna Paris' The Sun Climbs Slow explores the history of global justice, the politics behind America's opposition to the creation of a permanent international criminal court, and the implications for the world at large.
The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the first permanent tribunal of its kind. The mandate of the ICC is to challenge criminal impunity on the part of national leaders and to promote accountability in world affairs at the highest level. Independent and transnational, its indictments cannot be vetoed in the Security Council.
On March 11, 2003, when the new court was inaugurated in a moving ceremony, attended by over half of the countries in the world, one country was conspicuously missing from the celebrations. The government of the United States had made it clear that the International Criminal Court was not consistent with American goals and values.
Erna Paris is the winner of ten national and international writing awards, including the Canada-U.S. White Award for journalism, a gold medal from the National Magazine Awards Foundation, and four Media Club of Canada awards for feature writing and radio documentary. She is the author of six acclaimed books of literary nonfiction.