The issue of crimes against humanity occupies one of the central positions in the modern system of international criminal justice, as it reflects the international community’s capacity to respond to the gravest violations of humanitarian norms and to ensure the inevitability of accountability for their commission. The evolution of the concept of crimes against humanity and its practical application – from the Nuremberg Trials to the jurisprudence of the International Criminal Court – demonstrates the gradual formation of universal standards of individual criminal responsibility in international law. The purpose of the article is to conduct a comprehensive analysis of the formation and development of international criminal justice practice regarding crimes against humanity, to identify key trends in the evolution of their qualification, and to outline contemporary challenges faced by the international community, particularly in connection with the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine. The methodological basis of the study consists of historical-legal, formal-legal, comparative-legal, and systemic methods, which made it possible to trace the transformation of relevant normative approaches, summarize judicial practice, and assess new instruments for proving and prosecuting international crimes in modern law-enforcement practice. The research establishes that international tribunals and the ICC have developed clear criteria for determining the widespread or systematic nature of attacks against civilian populations, clarified the elements of crimes against humanity, expanded approaches to the qualification of sexual and gender-based crimes, and further specified the contours of command responsibility and complicity. Special emphasis is placed on the increasing role of digital technologies in the processes of evidence collection, verification, and analysis, as well as the emergence of hybrid institutional models of international criminal justice. The conclusions highlight that the evolution of international criminal justice practice reflects the irreversible process of institutionalizing accountability for crimes against humanity. Contemporary trends demonstrate a strengthening of global solidarity, technological modernization of evidentiary procedures, and an enhanced role of international institutions in upholding the rule of law amid new challenges to international security.

Journal articles

1. Andrushko A, ‘Kontseptsiia zlochynu henotsydu Rafala Lemkina: stanovlennia, transformatsiia, suchasne znachennia’ [2025] 1 Visnyk Uzhhorodskoho natsionalnoho

universytetu. Seriia: Pravo 569–577 https://doi.org/10.24144/2788-6018.2025.01.95 (in Ukrainian).

2. Dromina-Volok N, ‘Pryntsyp “nullum crimen sine lege” v konteksti diialnosti suchasnykh mizhnarodnykh kryminalnykh trybunaliv ad hoc’ [2007] 32(54) Aktualni problemy

derzhavy i prava 265–270 (in Ukrainian).

3. Rabinovych P, Osoba V, ‘Profesor H. Lauterpakht – avtor idei ta pershoho proektu Mizhnarodnoho billia (Zahalnoi deklaratsii) prav liudyny’ [2013] 4(75) Visnyk Natsionalnoi

akademii pravovykh nauk Ukrainy 3–10 (in Ukrainian).

Encyclopedias

4. Schabas W A, ‘International criminal law’ (Encyclopaedia Britannica 2025) britannica.com/topic/international-criminal-law> (accessed 15.02.2026).

5. Bilenchuk P, Kochetkov V, Mishchenko V, ‘Haazki konventsii pro zakony ta zvychai viiny 1899 i 1907’, Entsyklopediia Suchasnoi Ukrainy (I Dziuba ta in. (redkol), 2006) esu.com.ua/article-27901> (accessed 15.02.2026) (in Ukrainian).

6. Symonenko R, ‘Paryzka myrna konferentsiia 1919–20’, Entsyklopediia Suchasnoi Ukrainy (I Dziuba ta in. (redkol), 2025) (accessed 15.02.2026) (in Ukrainian).

Conference papers

7. Yurchyshyn V, ‘Dokazy ta yikh vlastyvosti u diialnosti Mizhnarodnoho kryminalnoho sudu: osnovni aspekty’, Yevropeiskyi vybir Ukrainy, rozvytok nauky ta natsionalna bezpeka v realiiakh masshtabnoi viiskovoi ahresii ta hlobalnykh vyklykiv KhKhI stolittia (do 25-richchia Natsionalnoho universytetu “Odeska yurydychna akademiia” ta 175-richchia  Odeskoi shkoly prava): u 2 t.: materialy Mizhnar.nauk.-prakt. konf. (m. Odesa, 17 chervnia 2022 r.) T. 1 (S Kivalov (red), Helvetyka 2022) 401–404 (in Ukrainian).

8. Yurchyshyn V, ‘Dopustymist ta nedopustymist informatsii / dokaziv u Mizhnarodnomu kryminalnomu sudi: osnovni polozhennia’, Kryminalna yustytsiia suchasnoi Ukrainy: vyklyky ta perspektyvy: materialy Mizhnar. nauk.-prakt. konf., prysv. do 75-richchia d.yu.n., prof. Yu. P. Alenina (L Arkusha, O Torbas, V Zavtur (red) 2021) 152–156 (in Ukrainian).

Websites

9. Boister N, ‘The Tokyo Trial and its Legacy’ (National University of Singapore, 26 September 2022) (accessed 15.02.2026).

10. Vybir zarady spravedlyvosti: posibnyk zi stvorennia mekhanizmiv prytiahnennia do vidpovidalnosti za naitiazhchi zlochyny (Options for Justice, per. z anhl. Mizhnarodnyi fond “Vidrodzhennia” 2017) (accessed 15.02.2026) (in Ukrainian).