The international community has yet to develop a broadly accepted philosophical
rationale for the extraterritorial adjudication of war crimes. Instead, several justifications
exist in a state of tension that produces uncertainties in the applicable legal
doctrines and policies. This article explains how the competition between the ‘‘atrocities’’
approach on the one hand, and the statist and humanitarian rationales on the other, causes
instability in the regime. It advocates for increased attention to the philosophical grounding
of extraterritorial war crimes trials, particularly in light of the increasing frequency of such
trials before international courts as well as national courts exercising universal jurisdiction.

EB00000003935K			Available
EB00000003936K			Available

• Justifying Extraterritorial War Crimes Trials