Australia’s most decorated living soldier, who has always denied any wrongdoing, is facing criminal proceedings. The path to this point has been long and complex.
Articles on War crimes trials
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Drawing on her personal experience at the Hague, Gretchen Shirm’s novel Out of the Woods confronts the issues of murder and displacement, cruelty and loss.
The Nuremberg Code was developed during trials for Nazi officials accused of performing inhumane experiments − but its influence has been far wider.
Official investigations of suspected Nazi collaborators have long closed. But families are still grappling with the hidden secrets of loved ones, a new book details.
The International Criminal Court has a range of options for both deterring and investigating war crimes in the current conflict.
Ilse Koch’s husband was commandant of Buchenwald, one of Germany’s first and largest concentration camps. As the only woman among 31 people indicted for crimes committed there, she became infamous.
Digital evidence is becoming a routine fixture for war crimes investigations, including the one focused on Ukraine, changing the landscape for international tribunal investigations.
The International Criminal Court sets a high bar for prosecuting heads of state for crimes committed while they are in power.
Other recent conflicts that resulted in war crimes allegations help explain how complex it will be to gather evidence of war crimes in Ukraine – and provide answers for families of victims of the war.
Both Russia and Ukraine are signatories to the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war – how much it is being observed is another matter.
Prosecuting a leader like Vladimir Putin accused of war crimes is difficult. But the trial of Serbian leader Slobodan Milosevic in the early 2000s offers a potential playbook.
The prosecution and death sentences handed out to two British and one Moroccan national fighting alongside Ukrainian troops contravenes the Geneva Conventions.
Holding war crimes trials during active hostilities is rare. Proceedings in Ukraine also open the risk of Russian show trials, argues a law of war expert.
Countries would likely need to set up new courts to prosecute Vladimir Putin for illegally invading Ukraine – but this isn’t a sure bet he would ever be held accountable for his crimes.
President Biden said that Vladimir Putin had committed war crimes, after news emerged of mass civilian murders in Bucha, Ukraine. Three stories from our archive explain what this means.
None of the available methods for holding Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable are likely to actually punish him, and they may even make new atrocities more likely.
The complex history of prosecuting Nazi war crimes means elderly men and women are on trial for crimes committed decades ago.
Sex and gender-based offences have become an increasing focus of war crimes trials at the International Criminal Court.
Women continue to be stereotyped as passive and meek. For this reason, international courts often let women war criminals off the hook.
US agreements with Germany, France, Switzerland and Austria provide reparations to WWII victims. But an international law scholar writes that the US has failed to address war crimes in Asia.
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Professor of Law, American University
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Professor of Political Science, Penn State
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Associate Professor in International Relations, University of Nottingham
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Senior Visiting Scholar with the Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Rutgers University
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Associate Professor of Political and Social Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra
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Distinguished Professor of Anthropology; Director, Center for the Study of Genocide and Human Rights, Rutgers University - Newark
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Associate Professor of Politics and Global Studies, Arizona State University
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Professor Emeritus of Modern European History, University of Essex
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Associate Professor in History, University of Southern Queensland
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Lecturer in Law, University of East London
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Professor of International Law, University of Portsmouth
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Project Lead for International Technical Forensic Services Global Forensic Justice Center, Florida International University
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Professor of Law, University of Waikato
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Director of the Center for Health Law, Ethics & Human Rights, Boston University
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PhD Creative Writing, School of Humanities, Adelaide University