Why are (seemingly) so many war crimes Tried by Germany? Why aren’t they tried by other countries like the US, UK or France?
To clarify: I’m not talking about NAZI war crimes but crimes commited by Syria for example where there have been a couple high profile trials in the last few years.
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Courts can only try people if they have jurisdiction. That means countries usually only prosecute crimes that happened on their territory, or by their citizens. The details differ from country to country. People who committed crimes in a foreign country are extradited (sent back) instead of being put on trial.
One big exception are crimes against humanity. Many countries (but not all!) hold that there is universal jurisdiction for these especially heinous crimes. That means that all courts everywhere may prosecute these criminals, no matter who they are or where they committed their crimes. This is laid down in the Rome Statue.
In Germany, this is laid down in the *Völkerstrafgesetzbuch* (“Code of Crimes against International Law”).
German prosecutors **must**, by law, bring all suspected crimes to trial, except very minor ones. German prosecutors have gone to jail for not prosecuting. This is very different from the situation in the US, for example. Germans do not have the reputation of being sticklers for rules for nothing.
Then, of course, Germany takes in many refugees. Among them are witnesses and possibly criminals. There are more suspects in Germany than in other countries with similar laws.
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