Why does the Kosovo Tribunal have a problem with its legitimacy?

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The US hits the ICC with sweeping sanctions
By AFP
"The United States will continue its campaign to dismantle the ICC, piece by piece, until Americans are threatened no longer,” said Secretary of State Marco Rubio while announcing the new sanctions on Friday October 9, after the Nobel Peace Prize was awarded to Navi Pillay, a former judge at the ICC and other international courts.
Navi Pillay, wearing glasses, a grey jacket and a UN badge on a lanyard, smiles behind a microphone at a press conference. Behind her is the large white United Nations emblem on a blue background, with “United Nations Geneva” written in several languages. South African judge Navi Pillay wins Nobel Peace Prize
By AFP
"Peace requires justice”, said the chair of the Nobel Committee in Oslo while announcing the 2026 Peace Prize. The 85 years old South African judge, former UN human rights chief and International Court of Justice judge Navanethem "Navi" Pillay has won the Nobel for her contributions to international law, the jury announced on Friday October 9, 2026.
Mahamat Said Abdel Kani, a former rebel with the Central African Seleka, is seen speaking with a lawyer at the International Criminal Court (ICC). He has been found guilty of crimes against humanity committed in the Central African Republic. ICC: what does Said’s judgment mean?
By Janet H. Anderson
Late September, judges at the International Criminal Court (ICC) decided that Mahamat Said Abdel Kani, a senior figure of the Seleka movement in the Central African Republic, was guilty of crimes against humanity.
Protesters in front of the Kosovo Assembly building, in Pristina Why are the Kosovars so upset after the KSC?
By Asymmetrical Haircuts
Why are Kosovars turning against the Kosovo Specialist Chambers? This podcast explores the history and growing tensions surrounding the KSC after its latest verdict against former KLA leaders.
Three soldiers from the Ethiopian National Defence Forces are on patrol outside Mekelle Airport in Ethiopia. Somali region TRC wraps up, as war returns
By Julia Crawford
The final report of a truth and reconciliation commission in Ethiopia’s eastern Somali region seems to have been delayed. Is it because of fighting in the north, or something else?
War in Ukraine
War in Ukraine
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Ten heads of state wanted for international crimes
Ten heads of state wanted for international crimes
Putin, Netanyahu and the others
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Transitional Justice
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20 years of the African Court: “States’ support is slow in coming”
Immunities of State officials: Poland steps up
Universal Jurisdiction: the case of puzzling Austria
Meeting with the families of the missing in Aleppo
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The scandal of victims’ funds in DRC Special focus 10 publications
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Kasai: FONAREV under fire The Kamuina Nsapu armed conflict in the Democratic Republic of Congo took place ten years ago. But in Kasai FONAREV, the public body in charge of reparations for victims, is coming increasingly under fire.
FRIVAO: Is collective compensation being used for embezzlement?
Chaos and corruption: investigating the FRIVAO fund in Kisangani
All our special focus
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Special report: ‘Life under sanctions’ (imposed by the US) for staff at the International Criminal Court and NGOs working with the ICC. Illustration: a colourful drawing showing a judge swimming underwater, surrounded by jellyfish. Papers bearing the ICC logo are also submerged. Life under sanctions
9 publications
Illustration showing a concrete mixer truck (with the Lafarge logo printed on it) stopped at a checkpoint manned by several figures dressed in black, armed and wearing balaclavas. A long arm extends from the truck, holding a suitcase filled with banknotes bearing the image of Bashar al-Assad. On the side is an ISIS flag. War and business: Lafarge in the dock
16 publications
At the Lundin trial in Sweden, two former executives of the oil company are on trial for alleged complicity in war crimes committed in Sudan. Illustration: Ian Lundin and Alexandre Schneiter are drowned in a pool of oil. Conflict rages in the background. War and oil: Lundin in the dock
25 publications
Fighting gender-based crimes - Illustration: a crime scene (police banner and numbered exhibits) where the silhouette of a character marked on the ground is filled in with the colors of the LGBTQ+ community's rainbow flag. The Fight Against Gender Crimes
9 publications
What justice for enforced disappearances around the world? © Marina Margarina / Justice Info The disappeared who will never be forgotten
28 publications
Félicien Kabuga, in a wheelchair, seems to be running away from a huge blood-red Félicien Kabuga, the last judgment
16 publications
Illustration mettant en scène des hommes et femmes d'affaire flottant sur un océan déchaîné. Certains semblent confiants et d'autres paniquent. Au fond, un radeau flotte transportant un magistrat en robe (mat symolisant la balance de la justice). Corporations face the rising tide of justice
51 publications
Religious people (in small format) are lined up to confess in turn to the ear of a church member (in large format) who hides one eye while listening with one ear. The Church and its sexual crimes
18 publications
Colonial crimes: a chess game to negotiate reparations, restitution, truth and the duty to remember Hour of reckoning for colonial crimes
50 publications
Massaquoi trial in Liberia The Massaquoi Affair: the Finnish model put to the test
21 publications
ICC's Trust Fund for Victims (TFV): a failure The failure of the ICC Victims Fund
7 publications
ICC desperately seeking prosecutor
7 publications
Transitional Justice: The great Colombian challenge
86 publications
Time for the truth in Gambia
77 publications
Rwanda, 25 years after the genocide
8 publications
Richard Rogers, a human rights lawyer, answers questions from Thierry Cruvellier (Justice Info) regarding the sanctions imposed by the US government on the International Criminal Court (ICC) and various NGOs. Illustration: portrait of Richard Rogers (watercolour).
“What has changed is who the U.S. consider to be friends or foe”
17 March 2026 by Thierry Cruvellier
The International Criminal Court is undermined by its internal dysfunctions, crises, and contradictions. It is sometimes weakened by its own member states. But the fatal weapon that seems to threaten its very existence is the sanctions imposed by the U.S. government. What are they? What impact have they already had on the institution, its judges and prosecutors, and the NGOs that have worked with it? How has a tool used by human rights activists turned against them? To kick off this special focus, British lawyer Richard Rogers explains the origins and workings of the main sanction’s regime in the field of human rights.
Justice for Syria: what are the various initiatives for justice for Syria around the world, at the national level (in Syria or elsewhere, under universal jurisdiction) or at the international level (via the ICJ and UN bodies)? Image: world map with a photo of Sednaya prison (Syria) seen from the air and a portrait of Bashar al-Assad superimposed on it.
Justice for Syria: who is doing what?
8 December 2025 by Hannah El-Hitami
One year after the fall of Bashar al-Assad, on 7 December 2024, the landscape of justice for grave violations of international law in Syria has transformed. Some transitional justice institutions have been established in Syria. And there have never been so many active Syrian cases under universal jurisdiction. 
Justice for Gaza: what are the various initiatives for justice for Gaza around the world, at the national and international levels (via the ICC, the ICJ, and the UN)? Image: world map with a photo of a completely destroyed street in Gaza, seen from the sky, superimposed on it.
Justice for Gaza: who is doing what?
4 November 2025 by Golnouche K. Barzegar
It’s a battle outside the battlefield, and it is worrying the State of Israel: in January 2025, the Israeli army warned its soldiers about possible arrests when they travel abroad. Since the start of the offensive in Gaza launched after the attack on October 7, 2023, two international courts have been seized: the International Criminal Court, which has issued arrest warrants, and the International Court of Justice, whose decisions have been supported by resolutions of the UN General Assembly. At the same time, the Human Rights Council has set up a commission, which has concluded that a “genocide” is taking place. Finally, complaints have been filed in dozens of national courts, and universal jurisdiction proceedings have been opened around the world.
In Ukraine, the Chernobyl nuclear power station was attacked and damaged by a Russian drone strike. An overview of the situation and a focus on international law in such circumstances. Photo: our correspondent in Ukraine poses, wearing safety gear, beneath the concrete arch.
Inside Chernobyl after a drone attack: what can international law do?
26 June 2026 by Oksana Rekun
On February 14, 2025, a Russian drone struck Ukraine’s Chernobyl nuclear power plant, near the fourth reactor destroyed in 1986. What’s nuclear safety in wartime? Journalist Oksana Rekun went to Chernobyl and asked.
Syria
21 September 2026
The Bitter Scales of Justice in Syria
Palestine
7 July 2026
Facing the threat of annexation in Palestine
Philippines
18 May 2026
ICC exposes democratic wounds in Philippines
Dem. Rep. Of Congo
25 August 2026
Kasai: FONAREV under fire
Colombia
15 September 2026
Colombia: how the JEP appeal judges corrected its first historical ruling
Central African Republic
23 September 2026
ICC: Said convicted

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All our original publications listed in chronological order+

International justice news, according to AFP

12 October 2026 Riyadh airport hit by fresh Houthi strike day after deadly attack 11 October 2026 'My blood ran cold': survivors recount horror after Riyadh airport strike 11 October 2026 Houthis issue new threat to Saudi airspace after deadly airport attack 11 October 2026 Airport strike kills 12, Saudi coalition vows 'decisive' response 10 October 2026 Nobel peace laureate Pillay calls US sanctions on ICC 'unacceptable' 10 October 2026 S.African judge Pillay wins Nobel peace prize: key reactions 10 October 2026 Trump calls Nobel Peace Prize pick 'disgraceful' 9 October 2026 Gambian movement demands answers on ex-dictator's assets 9 October 2026 Global reaction to US sanctions on International Criminal Court 9 October 2026 US announces sanctions on ICC, hours after Nobel award to former judge
+ All AFP dispatches