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National tribunals

What is it all about?

The country administers justice itself

National courts are the pillars of justice within each country, responsible for applying laws and delivering fair judgments for offenses ranging from civil disputes to the most serious crimes. Their functioning reflects the diversity of legal systems around the world and plays a central role in protecting citizens' rights, maintaining public order, and promoting justice. Justice Info covers the prosecutions and trials conducted before these national courts when they pertain to crimes under international law.

In Bangladesh, lawyers close to the government were allegedly involved in violence during student protests in the summer of 2024. Photo: Men are locked in a blue police van. Their faces are visible through the grilles in front of the windows.
Justice vs justice
22 April 2025 by David Bergman
Dozens of justice professionals, lawyers as well as prosecutors, have been arrested in Bangladesh. They are accused of taking part in the violent repression of demonstrations last summer that led to the fall of Sheikh Hasina’s government. But there’s a thin line between political retaliation and criminal accountability.
In Guinea, Head of State Mamadi Doumbouya has promised reparations for the victims of the 28 September 2009 massacre, but he has also pardoned the main defendant in the trial: Moussa Dadis Camara. Why did he do this? Photo: Assembly of portraits of Doumbouya and Camara in military garb. ‘We must not drain a historic trial of all its sap’
14 April 2025 by Abdourahmane Bah
What political factors explain the Guinean State's decision to compensate the victims of the 2009 Conakry stadium massacre and to pardon Captain Moussa Dadis Camara? Political scientist Kabinet Fofana explains.
During the battle of Kursk, in Russia, Ukrainian soldiers were captured. Their trials, mainly for acts of ‘terrorism’, are taking place in Moscow. Photo: A Ukrainian soldier with his back to a wall, head down, is held by a hooded Russian soldier. Kursk’s battle goes to court in Moscow
1 April 2025 by Maria Koroleva
Moscow's retaking of the Kursk region in March could deprive Ukraine of a bargaining chip in the peace talks. And according to the Justice Info tally, 67 Ukrainian soldiers captured in Kursk have been tried.
The head of Guinea's ruling military junta, Mamadi Doumbouya, has declared a pardon for a former coup leader, Dadis Camara. Photo: Doumbouya in military uniform. Guinea: reparations for a pardon
29 March 2025 by AFP
On March 26, the Guinean government undertook to compensate the victims of the stadium massacre in 2009. Two days later, President Mamadi Doumbouya pardoned Dadis Camara, who had been sentenced to 20 years in prison for the massacre.
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28 September trial in Guinea: following the government's announcement, victims are waiting for ‘reparations’ (financial compensation). Photo: Exterior view of the new courthouse in Conakry at its inauguration on 28 September 2022.
27 March 2025 by Abdourahmane Bah
Guinea: the State commits to compensating victims The news read last night on national television took victims by surprise: nearly eight months after the court verdict, Guinea’s government announced it would cover compensation for the victims of the 28 September 2009 massacre.
In Gambia, a special tribunal has been set up in partnership with Ecowas to try crimes committed under the dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh. The question now is how it will be funded. Photo: In 2017, Jammeh prepares to leave Gambia for Equatorial Guinea. He smiles and waves to the crowd at the door of a plane.
18 March 2025 by Mariam Sankanu
Gambia: a special court in search of funds In Gambia, a special tribunal has been set up in partnership with Ecowas to try crimes committed under the dictatorship of Yahya Jammeh. The question now is how it will be funded.
The Congolese people of Masuika, in Kasai Central (Democratic Republic of Congo), heard the final verdict in the trial of two former members of the Kamuina Nsapu militia, accused of war crimes committed in 2017. Photo: The crowd awaits the verdict at the place where the mobile court hearings were held, near the site of the crimes.
11 March 2025 by Joseph Mbuyi
The people of Masuika hears two verdicts The two men prosecuted for the martyrdom of a traditional chief in 2017 had their sentences reduced to 20 years in prison by the military court on March 10. The Congolese population of Masuika, in Central Kasai, was also able to a [...]
In the Kasai region of the Democratic Republic of Congo, the verdict is confirmed on appeal for two defendants, former Kamwina Nsapu militiamen, in a trial for war crimes. Photo: The two defendants pose under a tent set up during a mobile court hearing in the village where the crimes took place.
10 March 2025 by Joseph Mbuyi
Settling of scores in Kasai The appeal trial for the murder of Chief Mbangu in 2017 in Masuika, in the province of Central Kasai, Democratic Republic of the Congo, ended on March 7. The two defendants, sentenced to death in first instance, accused each other [...]
In Kasai (Democratic Republic of Congo), some trials are held in mobile courts, in the heart of the villages, as close as possible to the crimes and the victims. Photo: Protected witnesses are covered from head to toe during a trial for war crimes committed by members of the Kamwina Nsapu militia.
6 March 2025 by Joseph Mbuyi
In Kasai, justice on the ground and under protection After several postponements, the appeal trial of two men sentenced to death for war crimes committed in the Congolese region of Kasai opened in the town of Masuika on March 3. The entire court traveled to the crime site. To hear t [...]
How does justice work in Italy for crimes committed against migrants? Photo: Migrants from Africa, most of whom pass through Libya, are rounded up and watched over by Italian police officers.
3 March 2025 by Margherita Capacci
Italy: is accountability for crimes against migrants possible? Although trials against migrant smugglers have multiplied over the past decade in Italy, the suspects often face the only charge of smuggling while charges of kidnapping, killings, extortion or sexual violence hardly ever apply. T [...]
In Bangladesh, following the demonstrations in the summer of 2024 that led to mass crimes, the International Crimes Tribunal is back in action to try those responsible. But there are reports of concern about the operation of the local justice system and its politicisation. Photo: Demonstrators, seen against the light, stand on a high structure, one of them waving a Bangladeshi flag.
20 February 2025 by David Bergman
The second life of Bangladesh’s International Crimes Tribunal Six months after the prime minister of Bangladesh, Sheikh Hasina, fled the country, the new interim government has started the process of seeking accountability against politicians and security force officials accused of crimes ag [...]
Putin, Netanyahu, al-Assad, Jammeh, Hasina, Akhundzada, Bozizé, al-Bashir, Hlaing, Mengistu: the ten heads of state wanted by international justice. Illustration: portraits of the 10 heads of state on a map of the world and a ‘wanted’ stamp.
17 February 2025 by Golnouche K. Barzegar
Putin, Netanyahu and the others: ten wanted heads of state It's a very exclusive club, and here is its world map. The club of heads of state wanted for international crimes. There are ten of them. At the top of this ‘wanted list’ are those accused of war crimes or crimes against humanity [...]
Official portrait of Major General Jeff Sengelman who led the Australian military operations in Afghanistan.
30 January 2025 by Asymmetrical Haircuts
Australia’s war crimes in Afghanistan: “I am one of them” “It was really ugly, and it continues to be hurtful, but we called ourselves out,” Major General Jeff Sengelman says. Today, we broadcast an exclusive interview with the man who played a key role in creating “the command climate”, [...]
In Ukraine, a military prisoner, sitting on a chair, is guarded by a soldier in the background, in what looks like an interrogation room.
17 December 2024 by Vladyslava Kobko
Ukraine: a two-time deserter convicted of high treason A native of Donetsk region who was mobilized twice and deserted twice, first from the army of the so-called Donetsk People's Republic (DNR) and then from the Ukrainian army, repented in front of the Kostopil district court in the [...]
In Gambia, Yahya Jammeh near the presidential car, escorted by ‘junglers’ (his bodyguards).
16 December 2024 by AFP
Gambia: ECOWAS revises its position The Heads of State and Government of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), meeting in Abuja on Sunday, "took the historic decision to establish a special tribunal for the Gambia", announced the Gambian Ministry o [...]
Sexual violence in Ukraine - As a result of the war with Russia, sexual crimes perpetrated by Russian soldiers are on the increase. photo: a woman hides her face with her hands.
12 December 2024 by Olga Zhuravel
“We need an example and people will speak up” 211 women and 118 men have been registered as victims of conflict-related sexual violence since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces, according to the Prosecutor General of Ukraine. Our correspondent in Dnipro spok [...]
International Criminal Court and Special Criminal Court: a duel at the summit of justice in the Central African Republic. Photo: A taxi and a gendarmerie vehicle in a street in Bangui (Central African Republic).
9 December 2024 by Franck Petit
A courts’ chase in Bangui Last June, the International Criminal Court already knew that it would run out of trials in 2025. At that time, it received a tip-off about the whereabouts of a local anti-balaka leader in the Central African Republic, Edmond Bein [...]
The trial of Nikolai Kartashov, 22, a Russian artilleryman accused of war crimes committed in the town of Boucha (Ukraine) opened on November 20.
5 December 2024 by Iryna Salii
A Russian officer on trial for murder in Bucha On 20 November 2024, the Irpin City Court started the trial of a young Russian military officer whose unit opened fire and killed a convenient store security guard in Bucha, in the region of Kyiv, the capital city of Ukraine, in F [...]
JEP and Transitional Justice in Colombia. Photo: Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) guerrilla fighters prepare to be demobilized following the signing of the peace agreement.
25 November 2024 by Paola Molano-Ayala
Colombia: Going back to the original balance of justice There is a crucial aspect of Colombia’s transitional justice model that is worrying: the current inability of the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) to offer legal security to those who participated in the conflict, including in [...]
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