The Constitutional Court of Spain today reversed an earlier 2003 decision from a lower court, and thereby allowing prosecutions for the crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity to go forward even if no Spanish citizens are involved. The previous decision of the lower court had determined that such crimes could only be prosecuted in [...]
The report entitled ‘A Face and a Name – Civilian Victims of Insurgent Groups in Iraq’ released today by Human Rights Watch paints the clear, and perhaps even obvious picture that the insurgents in Iraq who are battling the Iraqi Government and the US-led coalition are violating international humanitarian law. While the report aimed to [...]
The Dutch and Belgian cases discussed in the previous post highlight the main dilemma of the concept of universal jurisdiction in international law.
Both in the Netherlands and Belgium, public prosecutors have instituted judicial proceedings against civil and military leaders for certain heinous crimes committed in their countries. In both cases, the governments claim the authority to prosecute these persons based on the principle of universal jurisdiction. It is claimed that these crimes are so offensive to the international community as a whole that all states should be able to prosecute people who are suspected of such crimes, regardless of where the crimes were committed or what the nationality is of the perpetrator.