European courts have secured convictions against former Syrian regime officials using universal jurisdiction — the legal principle allowing prosecution of serious crimes regardless of where they occurred — filling a gap left by the absence of any international tribunal for Syria's conflict. The most recent case involves General Khaled al-Halabi, former head of secret police in Raqqa under Bashar al-Assad, who was arrested in Austria in late 2024 and sentenced this July to eight years in prison, making him the highest-ranking Assad regime figure convicted in Europe. Of 70 active universal jurisdiction cases worldwide related to crimes committed in Syria, 68 are being pursued in Europe — 41 in Germany alone — a justice effort driven largely by Syrian survivors and human rights organisations after Russia and China vetoed UN Security Council referrals to the International Criminal Court between 2014 and 2015, leaving victims with no international recourse.