Professor Milena Sterio presented at the European Society of International Law Conference in Berlin, Germany, on September 11, on the topic of “The Role of International, Regional, and Domestic Courts in Transitions Toward Democracy.”  Professor Sterio’s paper was selected from a competitive call-for-papers.  In this paper, Professor Sterio argues that because our traditional peace and security apparatus, which has existed since 1945 through the United Nations Security Council, is mostly paralyzed, we may need to increasingly turn toward courts.  When international, regional, or domestic courts proclaim that a state is responsible for an international law violation or that a specific country leader ought to bear individual criminal responsibility for the commission of atrocity crimes, courts thereby play a role in transitional justice, and may contribute toward a re-establishment of peace and security in a region.