2017 | Trial International; Make way for Justice #3 Universal Jurisdiction Annual Review 2017

Five years of conflicts, hundreds of thousands of dead. In Syria, large-scale war crimes are committed in all impunity. The international community has proved incapable to prevent the bombing of humanitarian convoys, the starvation of civilians and the use of chemical weapons.

Effective prosecution has been repeatedly impeded at the international level, however without success. So, justice is taking an audacious path: universal jurisdiction.

This report summarizes all the universal jurisdiction cases globally. There are currently 47 cases in 13 different countries, 14% on torture, 6% on genocide, 15% on CAH and 55% on war crimes.

The report ends with a brief description of the concept. What is universal jurisdiction? A State is usually competent to judge crimes if they have been committed on its territory, or by or against its citizens. Based on the notion that the fight against impunity is borderless, States sometimes have an option to prosecute alleged criminals on their territory.

Finally, a schematic overview of all these 47 cases is offered.