The fight against violations of International Criminal Law, i.e. the fight against the most serious crimes affecting the international community as a whole, continues to gain importance at national level.

In compliance with its international obligations Germany created the independent Code of Crimes against International Law in 2002. This code defines the following crimes as punishable:

• genocide,
• crimes against humanity and
• war crimes..

The Bundeskriminalamt houses the newly created Central Unit for the Fight against War Crimes and further Offences pursuant to the Code of Crimes against International Law (ZBKV).
The ZBKV collects and analyses information on these types of crime and submits it to the Federal Prosecutor General for legal assessment and institution of investigative proceedings.

In principle, pursuant to section 1 of the Code of Crimes against International Laws, the German law enforcement/prosecution agencies have worldwide jurisdiction.
The focus of searches is, however, on perpetrators who seek to use Germany as a „safe haven“ and place of retreat.

The ZBKV carries out the necessary investigations at home and abroad.

In fighting violations of International Criminal Law at international level, the ZBKV cooperates closely with INTERPOL, with the „War Crimes Units“ of other countries, with ad-hoc criminal courts of justice (e.g. the Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia and the Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda) and with the permanent International Criminal Court (ICC) created in The Hague in 2002.

At national level, the ZBKV cooperates with the ZBKV points of contact at the state security departments of the State Criminal Police Offices and of the Federal Police.