This course examines the jurisprudence and politics of international criminal tribunals: the institutions that aim to provide accountability for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity. After considering the development of international criminal law from its origins in the post WWII Nuremberg and Tokyo Tribunals we will take up the creation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, and subsequent tribunals set up to deal with the conflicts in East Timor, Sierra Leone, and Cambodia. Through Samantha Power’s A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide we will consider the political dynamics that bring about the creation of a tribunal and shape or influence its operations. Turning to the body of case law that has defined contemporary international criminal law we will take up key issues such as the prosecution of sexual violence, torture, enslavement, and genocide and the doctrines that define the contours of individual responsibility such as command responsibility, joint criminal enterprise, and the defenses of duress and superior orders. Beyond the doctrinal issues we will also discuss the goals that tribunals are supposed to serve and to what extent they fulfill these aims. Finally, we will consider the relation of international tribunals to other modes of transitional justice such as truth commissions, traditional justice mechanisms, and national prosecutions.