The case of the Khmers Rouges illustrates the need for a permanent international criminal court, though the court now being planned will not be able to deal with crimes committed before its creation.

ECONOMIST: Try the Khmers Rouges

The government of the United States, the moving spirit behind Nuremberg, is today the main opponent to the creation of a permanent international criminal court, and is fighting to win exemption for itself alone from the court's jurisdiction.

ECONOMIST: War-crimes tribunals: Their time has come | The

Establishing a permanent international criminal court to handle the most difficult and egregious cases also now looks more urgent than ever.

ECONOMIST: The Law Lords and the General | The

If a new permanent international criminal court is set up in the next few years, as many including this newspaper hope, it too will be able to punish the guilty only with prison, not with death.

ECONOMIST: The cruel and ever more unusual punishment

An article ruling out immunity for heads of state or government officials for the gravest crimes was one of the few non-controversial provisions in the treaty agreed in Rome in July to set up a permanent international criminal court.

ECONOMIST: Bringing the general to justice