But Milosevic died in prison in 2006, shortly before the end of his trial.

International courts set up by the U.N., like the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, have a twofold problem. First, these tribunals do not have an actual international police force to carry out arrests.

Governments implicated in their leaders’ alleged crimes also often try to obstruct international courts by not turning over suspects.

The enforcement problem, as my scholarship has shown, can allow a powerful country like Russia to evade arrest warrants from international courts – as long as the suspect remains within the country.

The International Criminal Court, for example, has not been able to persuade the Sudanese government to hand over former president Omar al-Bashir for alleged war crimes committed in Darfur in the 2000s.

Milosevic escaped a final verdict and potential prison time with his death.

But his trial still shows that under specific circumstances, international courts can overcome their lack of enforcement powers and bring high-level suspects to trial. International political pressure and incentives often serve a role in this process.

Ukraine, meanwhile, has already convicted and sentenced several Russian soldiers for war crimes during the ongoing Ukraine conflict, and, as of the beginning of August 2022, has charged 135 other Russian suspects.

The Ukrainian government has also pushed for the creation of a specialized court – which has now received European Union backing – to prosecute Putin and other Russian leaders for the illegal invasion of Ukraine. Beth Van Schaack, the United States’ ambassador-at-large for global criminal justice, said in November 2022 that the crime of aggression is the “original sin that unleashed all of the war crimes” happening in Ukraine. These include Russia’s ongoing indiscriminate bombing of Ukrainian cities and atrocities against Ukrainian citizens, including execution and torture.

While the International Criminal Court is investigating Russian war crimes in Ukraine, this Hague-based court does not have the jurisdiction to prosecute Russian leaders for the crime of aggression. This is partially because Russia has never joined the International Criminal Court.

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