Introduction In April and May 2025, the International Law Commission (ILC) is due to discuss, and possibly adopt on second reading, the Draft Articles on immunity of state officials from foreign criminal jurisdiction, adopted on first reading in 2022. During its session, the ILC will examine amendments to draft articles 7 to18 and an Annex proposed by the ILC Special Rapporteur on the topic, Claudio Grossman, in his second report published in January 2025 (draft articles 1 to 6 were the object of the Special Rapporteur’s first report). One of the provisions that has attracted most attention is draft article 7 (p. 230), which excludes the application of immunity ratione materiae, or functional immunity, with respect to a number of crimes under international law (for analysis, see here, here, here and here). This is understandable in light of the long-standing debate on the existence of exceptions to immunity ratione materiae (see relevant contributions here), particularly with a view to ensuring accountability for crimes…
Universal Jurisdiction
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“No safe haven” is not enough – universal jurisdiction and Russia’s war of aggression
Three years after Russia began its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the widespread activation of universal and other forms of extraterritorial jurisdiction to prosecute international crimes committed in the war calls for an evaluation. What has been achieved so far and what could be done better? Despite the stated commitment of Ukraine’s allies to complement the justice efforts in…
France’s Highest Court Confirms Universal Jurisdiction
In November 2021, the Criminal Chamber of the French Cour de cassation, shocked the international criminal law community (see here and here) by considering that French courts did not have jurisdiction over crimes against humanity committed in Syria because Syria was not party to the Rome Statute and did…
New universal jurisdiction case filed in Germany for crimes committed in Myanmar before and after the coup: On complementarity, effectiveness, and new hopes for old crimes
A few days before the second anniversary of the ‘failed coup’ in Myanmar, a case was filed in Germany against senior Myanmar military generals and ‘other actors’ identified in the complaint for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. It was filed under universal jurisdiction enshrined in the German Code of Crimes against International Law (Völkerstrafgesetzbuch…
One Year On – Remembering the Al-Khatib Syrian Torture Case and Reflecting on the Documentation of International Crimes Cases in German Courts
One year ago, on 13 January 2022, the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz, Germany, convicted Anwar R, a senior member of the Syrian General Intelligence Service, of at least 4,000 cases of torture, the murder of 27 people and multiple cases of sexual violence as a crime against humanity in the context of the infamous Al-Khatib prison…
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