An examination of English and French translation issues in international criminal justice. I focus on a number of examples from the Statutes and jurisprudence of international criminal tribunals and courts. I look at how terms are ‘created' by diplomats and linguists through adaptation and compromise. I also show how translation issues have had a bearing on the development of the hybrid legal system that governs these tribunals. In particular, I examine the ways in which a handful of linguistic discrepancies have influenced the crystallization of points of international criminal law.