The implementation of the idea that individuals, wherever they are and regardless
of their official status, may be accountable for crimes against humanity
breaks away from the Westphalian paradigm that each State is responsible for
prosecuting (or not) its citizens. After the Cold War, several international
criminal jurisdictions were created, namely the ad hoc courts for the former
Yugoslavia and for Rwanda and a permanent criminal jurisdiction, the
International Criminal Court (ICC). Power no longer serves as a means for
impunity in the same way. Those leaders involved in conflicts have learned to
fear international criminal justice as a “sword of Damocles”. On the other
hand, the creation of international criminal jurisdictions has become a means
to consolidate peace in post-conflict situations so as to restore justice
