Project

The International Crimes Database (ICD) website, hosted and maintained by the T.M.C. Asser Instituut in The Hague and supported by the Dutch Ministry of Security and Justice and the International Centre for Counter-Terrorism – The Hague, offers a comprehensive database on international crimes adjudicated by national, as well as international and internationalized courts.

In addition to case law on international crimes, the website incorporates general background information about international crimes, scholarly as well as news articles, working papers (ICD Briefs) and relevant links to other useful databases/websites on this topic. It is not our aim to be exclusive; rather, we hope that visitors of our website will be attracted to its ‘spider in the web’-character. ICD aims to be the starting point for any online search in international crime. Whether the information found in the end is downloaded from another site or database is of less importance. What is important is that the information is found, and we believe that this site is the best place to start that quest for information.

In the coming years, we will expand the database with more case law, a discussion forum, the streaming of video presentations and a social media platform to facilitate and stimulate interaction amongst our various users.

The ICD will provide access to a range of information not just for scholars and practitioners (such as judges, prosecutors and defense counsel), but also for students, journalists, families and communities of victims of crimes, and others. We do not select cases based solely on their jurisprudential value as this approach might result in excluding cases that are important to, for example, the victims of a certain crime. As a consequence, we aim to include as many cases as possible that have a link with international crimes. In doing so, the database is not limited to the international crimes beyond dispute (genocide, war crimes, crimes against humanity and aggression), but also offers case law on crimes such as piracy, terrorism and torture.

Our aim is to become a leading and indispensable resource for users in developing a better understanding of international crimes and international criminal law more generally.

You are most welcome to contribute to the development of this platform, the website and the database.