About

1. About the map

The Universal Jurisdiction Interactive Map (UJIM) is an online tool that provides a global overview of criminal cases brought before national courts on the basis of the principle of universal jurisdiction and the principles of active and passive personality jurisdiction. Cases included in the map relate to international crimes, namely genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity, torture, enforced disappearances and the crime of aggression. TRIAL International developed and launched the map in 2023.

The map is primarily intended for legal practitioners and victims’ representatives, but can also provide valuable information to researchers, journalists, NGOs, human rights defenders, government officials and the general public.

The interactive map enables the user to access quantitative data on investigations and prosecutions of universal jurisdiction cases worldwide. Cases can be filtered through multiple factors, such as country of commission, country of prosecution, alleged crime(s)/charges, status of the procedure, verdict, or nationality of the suspect. For each case a summary of the facts and of the procedure is also available.

The information obtained when applying filters allows to extract statistics and to identify important developments in the practice related to universal jurisdiction. For example, as of 20th November 2023: Germany has the highest number of convictions for international crimes (34); France has opened the most investigations on economic actors with 7 cases; and in the last 10 years, a total of 87 verdicts of first instance have been handed down worldwide. In addition, by comparing results related to the different countries of prosecution, practitioners willing to resort to universal jurisdiction may identify key information. For example, these include: which are the countries more active in the prosecution of these crimes and what is the average length of the procedure.

2. About Universal Jurisdiction

States are competent to prosecute crimes if they have been committed on their territory (territorial jurisdiction). States are also competent to prosecute crimes committed abroad by their nationals (active personality) or against their nationals (passive personality). However, the nature of some international crimes is so serious that they affect the international community as a whole, thereby warranting special measures. Under the principle of universal jurisdiction, States have the option – and sometimes the obligation – to prosecute alleged perpetrators who are on their territory, regardless of where the crime may have been committed or of the nationality of the perpetrator(s) and the victim(s).

Universal Jurisdiction has been growing for the last 20 years. After the arrest of the former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in the United Kingdom in 1998, there has been a flow of cases trying to target high-level suspects such as presidents and ministers based on universal jurisdiction. Those cases triggered a diplomatic pressure from some States and led to legislative changes for a more restricted application of universal jurisdiction in several countries, for example Spain, Belgium and Switzerland. Nevertheless, for ten years now, a clear increase in the frequency of universal jurisdiction trials can be observed. Every year, the principle of universal jurisdiction is increasingly used to curb impunity for international crimes. 

3. Methodology

The map was created on the basis of TRIAL International’s Universal Jurisdiction Database. The Database, now replaced by this map, tracked all cases that were included in the Universal Jurisdiction Annual Review (UJAR, see point 5). Cases are included in the UJAR and in the map if judges or prosecutors have initiated national criminal investigations into international crimes, namely genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, torture, enforced disappearances or the crime of aggression. Complaints that victims, lawyers or NGOs filed under universal jurisdiction with national authorities that did not result in the opening of a judicial investigation or that have been dismissed by the relevant national authorities are not included.

Information included in the case sheets is collected through: open-source research, TRIAL International’s staff working on universal and active and passive personality jurisdictions cases, contributions from partner NGOs (especially past and current partners in the UJAR), plaintiffs and their legal representatives and national prosecutors. Filters have been applied to cases based on the information available to TRIAL International.

Filters: Each case can be sorted according to the following filters (the terms are defined and clarified in the Glossary):

  • Country of commission;
  • Country of prosecution;
  • Alleged crimes / charges;
  • Status of the procedure;
  • Verdict / decision;
  • Individual / company;
  • Jurisdictional basis;
  • Year of the verdict (first instance) / decision;
  • Length of procedure (in years);
  • Nationality of the suspect;
  • Gender of the suspect;
  • Status of the suspect;
  • Legal issues;
  • Compensation;
  • Specific topics.


Countries covered: The universal jurisdiction interactive map covers 196 countries: 193 United Nations Member States, 2 United Nations Permanent Observers and Kosovo (as it is recognized by a majority of the United Nations Member States).

Updates: Key developments in the cases will be included in the map regularly and the map will be fully updated once a year, usually in April, after the publication of the UJAR. The date of the last update is displayed on each case.

4. How to use the map

By default, the map displays all recorded cases worldwide by countries of prosecution. The user will visualize how the prosecution of most serious international crimes is currently distributed around the world. By clicking on countries of commission, the same recorded cases will be visualized on the map in the countries where the crimes or alleged crimes have been committed.

Once one or more filters are applied, only cases fulfilling the selected criteria will appear. By clicking on the orange pin(s), the list of cases relevant to the filter(s) selected will be shown. By clicking on each item of the list, the related case sheet – showing a summary of the facts and of the procedure – will appear. The user will also be able to browse through the full list of cases and to filter them through country of prosecution, country of commission, alleged crimes/charges, status of the procedure and verdict/decision.

Each case sheet is named after the last and first name of the (alleged) perpetrator.

5. Ressources

In order to raise awareness on the opportunities and challenges related to universal jurisdiction and to promote it as an effective tool to fight impunity, TRIAL International also developed, in collaboration with its partners, two series of publications:

       UJAR’s editions can be found here.

  • Universal Jurisdiction Law and Practice Briefing Papers: This publication series, intended for legal practitioners, was developed in order to contribute to a better understanding of domestic justice systems and to support the development of litigation strategies based on universal jurisdiction. The Briefing papers provide an overview of the national legal frameworks on universal jurisdiction and their application in practice. Developed jointly with the Open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and with contributions from other partners, the series currently includes reports on Belgium, Canada, England and Wales, Finland, France, Germany, The Netherlands, Norway, USA, Sweden and Switzerland.

       Universal Jurisdiction Law and Practice Briefing Papers can be found here.

The following resources also provide useful and relevant information about universal jurisdiction:

  • Justice Beyond Borders, A Global Mapping Tool: This searchable database, launched by the Clooney Foundation for Justice in 2023, tracks the criminalization of the most serious international crimes (genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression) across 216 jurisdictions. The database shows the conditions for exercising jurisdiction over each crime, as well as the procedural requirements for triggering successful cases.
  • The Corporate Crimes Project: This project, which is managed by the Business, Security and Human Rights Team at Amnesty International, aims to prevent corporate human rights abuses by holding companies to account if they cause or contribute to such abuses. The Case Map shows legal cases against economic actors around the world.