The Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights is a Sponsoring Organization of The Princeton Project on Universal Jurisdiction

According to what legal principles should national courts exercise "universal jurisdiction" to try non-citizens accused of committing abroad certain grave crimes such as genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes?

The Princeton Project on Universal Jurisdiction aims to address this serious problem of international law and justice. The Project is a joint venture of Princeton University?s Program in Law and Public Affairs, the Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs, the International Commission of Jurists (?ICJ?), the American Association for the ICJ, the Urban Morgan Institute for Human Rights, and the Netherlands Institute of Human Rights.

The Project convened a two-stage colloquium of leading scholars, jurists, and legal experts from around the world and created a rigorous framework to analyze universal jurisdiction and related issues as problems of law and politics.? The Princeton Project has formulated consensus Principles to guide the exercise of universal jurisdiction.? These Principles are being disseminated widely in the hope that they will help give coherence to international law in this critical and increasingly important area.

The Princeton Principles on Universal Jurisdiction are now available in digital form. The 67-page document, including commentaries, can be downloaded in PDF format here: Universal Jurisdiction (pdf).

To request additional "hard" copies of the Principles, please contact Valerie Kanka at kanka@princeton.edu.

If you have any questions or comments on the Principles or the Project, please contact Professor Stephen Macedo, project chair (609-258-4763; macedo@princeton.edu).