Australia is experiencing an unprecedented moment in its relationship with international criminal law. On the one hand, the civilian justice system is investigating former Australian military personnel over alleged war crimes committed in Afghanistan, as well as women who returned to the country after having been linked to Islamic State in Syria — although these...
This year marks 80 years since the Nuremberg Trials, a decisive moment that marked a turning point in the history of international law and human rights. These trials not only punished the main leaders of the Nazi regime but also laid the foundations of legal principles that continue to guide international justice today. After the horrors...
The Danish Parliament approved a legislative reform on December 17, 2024; this historic action introduced a new chapter on international crimes into the country’s Penal Code. This amendment, which came into effect on January 1, 2025, explicitly criminalizes war crimes, torture, and crimes against humanity, consolidating Denmark’s commitment to the principle of universal jurisdiction. The reform...
In 2011, the brutal repression of peaceful demonstrations by the Syrian regime marked the beginning of an armed conflict that has left a deep scar on contemporary history. Two years later, in 2013, the situation escalated when the UN Mission to Investigate the Use of Chemical Weapons in Syria confirmed the use of sarin gas...
At the end of July, the League of Arab States hosted a symposium in Cairo titled “Activating the Role of National Courts in Prosecuting Perpetrators of International Crimes as a Guarantee to Combat Impunity.” The event, held at the League’s headquarters, was organized by the Arab Center for Legal and Judicial Research—an entity affiliated with...
Universal Jurisdiction is of the utmost importance for all those who fight for human rights, as it is an indispensable mechanism of justice whose objective is the fight against impunity derived from the commission of international crimes. For decades, a series of proceedings were opened before Spanish courts under the principle of universal jurisdiction, such as...
