As international law and multilateralism come under severe strain, UN member states gathered in New York from January 19 to 30 to work on a future convention for the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity. Leila Sadat, a professor of international criminal law at Washington University and one of the architects of the convention project, said that even “in a world wracked by war, despair and grave crimes, the 6th committee’s dramatic finish represented a commitment – by the entire world – to the values of peace and justice that the UN was established to promote.”
The meeting in New York marked the first diplomatic step in a new chapter in the development of international law, expected to last three to four years. The issue had been debated within the UN without concrete progress until December 2024, when, following an initiative by Mexico and Gambia, the General Assembly adopted a resolution launching the diplomatic process that is intended to give rise to the convention.
“Genocide” and “torture” already have their own conventions. War crimes are codified in the Hague and Geneva Conventions. But no existing international legal instrument governs crimes against humanity, establishing a global legal definition and setting out mechanisms for their prevention and punishment.
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