Discusses the origins, evolution, and implications of universal jurisdiction against impunity. This work examines its role in specific cases involving Adolf Eichmann, Pinochet, Habre, and former Rwandan government officials, in order to determine the proper place of universal jurisdiction in the regime of international legal accountability.

Universal jurisdiction stands for the principle that atrocities such as genocide, torture, and war crimes are so heinous and so universally abhorred that any state is entitled to prosecute these crimes in its national courts regardless where they were committed or the nationality of the perpetrators or the victims. Universal jurisdiction is becoming a potent instrument of international law, but it is poorly understood by legal experts and remains a mystery to most public officials and citizens. "Universal Jurisdiction" brings together leading scholars to discuss the origins, evolution, and implications of this legal weapon against impunity. They examine the questions that cloud its future, and its role in specific cases involving Adolf Eichmann, Pinochet, Habre, and former Rwandan government officials, among others, in order to determine the proper place of universal jurisdiction in the emerging regime of international legal accountability.