Assembly/AU/11 (XIII) Annex II Page 19   serious crimes of international concern.154 Since these cases do not implicate universal jurisdiction, they fall outside the scope of the present report. III. III.1 JURISDICTION OF THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT Introduction 28. Universal criminal jurisdiction relates to the competence of a state under international law to assert the jurisdiction of its courts over given conduct. In the past, the assertion of universal jurisdiction was the only way by which suspected perpetrators of serious crimes of international concern could be brought to justice in situations where the state where the alleged crimes occurred and, where these differed from the foregoing, the state of nationality of the offender or victims was manifestly unwilling or unable to prosecute.155 Today, the establishment of international criminal courts and tribunals provides an additional mechanism for the prosecution of such crimes in these circumstances. At the same time, temporal, geographical, personal and subject-matter limitations on the jurisdiction of international criminal courts and tribunals mean that universal jurisdiction remains a vital element in the fight against impunity. For example, the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) extends only to the period beginning on 1 January 1991 and only to the territory of the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia.156 The jurisdiction of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) is restricted to the period beginning 1 January 1994 and ending 31 December 1994 and to the territory of Rwanda, as well as to that of neighbouring states in respect of crimes committed by Rwandan citizens.157 The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) enjoys jurisdiction solely over ‘persons who bear the greatest responsibility for serious violations of international humanitarian law and Sierra Leonean law committed in the territory of Sierra Leone since 30 November 1996’.158 And the jurisdiction of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon is limited to the prosecution of ‘persons responsible for the attack of 14 February 2005 resulting in the death of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri and in the death or injury of other persons’.159 29. As a technical and conceptual matter, universal jurisdiction is to be distinguished at all times from the jurisdiction of international criminal courts and tribunals. Universal jurisdiction relates to the competence of a state to prosecute persons                                                              154 Cases are currently pending in France against certain serving African heads of state in relation to allegations stemming from property dealings. 155 Recall, however, both the International Military Tribunal established at Nuremberg and the International Military Tribunal established at Tokyo at the conclusion of the Second World War by the victorious Allied Powers. 156   Statute  of  the  International  Criminal  Tribunal  for  the  former  Yugoslavia,  UN  Doc.  S/RES/827  (1993),  Annex  (as  amended),  article 8.  157 Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, UN Doc. S/RES/955 (1994), Annex (as amended), article 7. Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, UN Doc. S/2002/246, Appendix II, annex, article 1(1). 159 Statute of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, UN Doc. S/RES/1757 (2007), 30 May 2007, Annex, article 1. 158 Version 31 March 09(FINAL)