international criminal tribunals

International criminal tribunals are special courts established to prosecute cases arising under international criminal law . These tribunals have jurisdiction over crimes such as genocide , war crimes , crimes against humanity , among other international crimes. They are divided into permanent and ad-hoc (temporary) tribunals. The International Criminal Court (ICC) is the only permanent criminal tribunal that has ever been established. Some notorious ad-hoc international criminal tribunals are:

• Nuremberg Military Tribunals , including the International Military Tribunal and the Subsequent Nuremberg Trials was established in 1945 to prosecute those responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity in WWII.
• The International Military Tribunal for the Far East (Tokyo War Crimes Tribunal), convened in May 1946.
• The International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia was established in 1993 to prosecute war crimes committed during the Balkans conflicts.
• The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda was established in 1994 to prosecute war crimes committed during the Rwanda Genocide.
• Special Court for Sierra Leone , (closed in 2013 and is now the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone), was established in November 1996 to prosecute war crimes and crimes against humanity arising from the Civil War in Sierra Leone.

[Last reviewed in May of 2023 by the Wex Definitions Team ]

Keywords

• international law
• international criminal law

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• courts
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