Two well-known examples of ad hoc tribunals are the international criminal tribunals for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Rwanda (ICTR). The ICTY was established in 1993 and is based in The Hague, The Netherlands. It is composed of 16 independent judges and deals with crimes committed after 1991. The ICTR was established in 1994 and is based in Arusha, Tanzania. It is also composed of 16 independent judges and looks at crimes committed between 1 January and 31 December 1994. Read more>>

Universal jurisdiction is the ability of the court of any state to judge or try persons for crimes committed outside its own territory (territorial jurisdiction) not being linked to the state by the nationality of the suspect (active personality jurisdiction) or the victims (passive personality jurisdiction) or by harm to the state’s own national interests (protective jurisdiction). Read more.

The ICC was established by the Rome Statute and entered into force on 1 July 2002. It is a permanent court composed of 18 independent judges and its headquarters are at The Hague in The Netherlands although it may also sit elsewhere. The function of the ICC is to establish individual responsibility for acts of genocide, crimes against humanity and crimes of war. The Court will exercise its jurisdiction when domestic authorities are unable or unwilling to do so. Read more>>