Genocide · crimes against humanity · war crimes. Prosecuted internationally.
Trafficking · terrorism · cybercrime · smuggling. Dealt with by cooperation.
Keep them separate — different crimes, different responses.
Intent to destroy a national/ethnic/racial/religious group.
Widespread/systematic attack on civilians. Not only in war.
Breaches of the laws of war (Geneva Conventions) during conflict.
Universal jurisdiction: any state may prosecute — no safe haven.
Driven by globalisation, cheap travel and the internet.
Nuremberg (post-WWII): individuals held responsible for the first time. UN ad hoc tribunals for the former Yugoslavia & Rwanda followed.
The ICTY confirmed crimes against humanity need not happen in a war.
The Rome Statute (1998, in force 2002) created the ICC at The Hague — genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, aggression. 125 states parties (2025). Penalty: imprisonment, not death.
Complementarity: a court of last resort — acts only if a state won't or can't.
DRC militia leader — guilty of the war crime of using child soldiers under 15. Sentenced to 14 years. The first person ever convicted by the ICC.
Putin — deporting Ukrainian children (first against a UNSC permanent member's leader). Netanyahu & Gallant — 2024. Neither arrested — the ICC has no police.
The International Criminal Court Act 2002 & consequential amendments inserted Division 268 into the Criminal Code Act 1995 (Cth) — genocide, crimes against humanity & war crimes as Australian offences (universal jurisdiction).
HCA upheld the War Crimes Act 1945 under the external affairs power — Australia can prosecute war crimes committed overseas.
Investigates transnational crime; international liaison posts.
Organised-crime intelligence; border security.
Tracks money laundering & terrorism financing.
195 countries' police share intelligence; Red Notices to locate the wanted (est. 1923, Lyon).
UN drugs & crime office; the 2000 "Palermo" Convention — trafficking, smuggling, firearms protocols.
Surrendering a suspect to another country to be tried — under the Extradition Act 1988 (Cth), via treaties.
No automatic right — treaty-dependent; usually refused where the death penalty may apply.
International law depends on states consenting to be bound and choosing to cooperate. No world police force.
Permanent ICC; universal jurisdiction; INTERPOL; extradition; real convictions.
No enforcement arm; powerful states not parties; withdrawals; slow, voluntary cooperation.
Weigh domestic measures (police, courts, AFP) against international ones (ICC, extradition, INTERPOL) — and conclude "substantially but unevenly effective."
The 2025 HSC asked exactly this — transnational and domestic crime.