More than 100,000 civilian deaths, eight million internally displaced persons, and four million refugees. As Syria neared its fifth year of war, these astonishing figures only hinted at the true toll of human suffering. In response to the massive scale of well-documented atrocities, states and civil society organisations have demanded criminal accountability. Yet with no clear path toward conflict resolution and democratic transition in Syria, key states continue to negotiate an end to the conflict that includes amnesties for the key perpetrators, thus allowing Assad regime to remain in power.

In order to expand upon existing debates, the Open Society Justice Initiative, the Commission for International Justice and Accountability (CIJA), Germany and Switzerland hosted a panel discussion aimed at determining whether an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice on the obligations to investigate and prosecute serious crimes in Syria help build political momentum toward criminal accountability.