David Bosco

In the spring of 1994, when the assassination of Rwanda's president unleashed a horrific three-month genocide that would ultimately kill 800,000 people, Rwanda's man at the United Nations assured the world's diplomats that his government was not to blame.

There's no judicial activism quite like Spain's judicial activism. Since the late 1990s, Spanish judges have launched criminal cases involving human rights abuses committed in more than a dozen countries, including Argentina, Chile and Rwanda. Dashing "superjudge" Baltasar Garzon has garnered worldwide headlines by leading many of these cases, most famously moving to indict ex-Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet in 1998 and sparking a months-long, multi-jurisdictional dispute that finally ended with Pinochet back in Chile, under investigation by national authorities.

The Security Council visits Darfur.

The Security Council's road trip takes an unexpected turn.

The first code of conduct during warfare, created by a Civil War–era Prussian immigrant, reflected ambiguities we struggle with to this day.

From Argentina to Zambia, investment firms are snatching up the poor world’s debt. To turn a buck, they sue, harass, and otherwise claw their way into making debtor states pay. Poverty activists say these so-called vulture funds are preying on the impoverished. But they’re only doing what the international financial system can’t—holding corrupt and irresponsible regimes to account.

Persistent concerns about such legal forays have sparked a backlash against the international criminal justice industry.

Afghan President Hamid Karzai has always had plenty of problems at home. Now, he’s got trouble brewing outside his borders, too.

As the Darfur region of Sudan smolders, human rights activists and a growing number of governments have adopted a new strategy.