TRIAL International – in collaboration with Civitas Maxima, Center for Justice and Accountability (CJA), REDRESS and ETO Consortium members ECCHR and FIDH – published on 17 April the 2023 edition of the Universal Jurisdiction Annual Review (UJAR 2023).
This reports highlights the “increasing use of the principles of universal and extraterritorial jurisdiction to curb impunity for international crimes“.
Some key figures from the UJAR 2023 (as stated on the TRIAL International website):
- in 2022, 23 convictions were obtained in first instance or on appeal, compared to 15 in 2021;
- in 2022, 30 suspects of international crimes were economic actors;
- at least 169 international crime suspects were under investigation in 2022, compared to 102 in 2021.
Intensified investigation of economic actors
The report also indicates that the investigation on Europe-based economic actors has increased, as TRIAL International’s press release states:
The number of legal proceedings involving the responsibility of European-based economic actors for international crimes continued to increase in 2022. Twelve investigations are currently underway, notably in France, Sweden and Switzerland, against corporations, their executives and/or businesspersons regarding their alleged involvement in international crimes. These promising applications of universal and extraterritorial jurisdiction are notably the result of long-standing civil society efforts to hold all perpetrators accountable, including powerful corporations.
