Is Australia obliged by international law to prosecute war criminals?
ยท “[T]he material relied on to establish that Australia is or was obliged to take steps to bring to trial in Australia suspected war criminals from the Second World War before international tribunals or before courts of the country in which the crimes were committed were matters of international concern for many years after 1945. Whether those matters were still of international concern in 1989 may be doubted. There is insufficient material to show that the apprehension and trial of war criminals before courts of countries other than those in which the crimes were committed were ever matters of international concern … However, I need not and I do not rest my judgment on this view for there is a further argument which depends simply on the existence of a universal jurisdiction to try international crimes … As the material drawn from international agreements and UNGA resolutions acknowledges, international law recognises a State to have universal jurisdiction to try suspected war cri