Virtual Tribunals is a major initiative of the Center for Human Rights and International Justice, which aims to facilitate free, comprehensive, enduring access to the records of international criminal tribunals and truth commissions around the globe. The objective is to assemble this material online to make research far easier and more efficient than is currently the case for both legally trained users and lay-audiences, including populations directly affected by conflict or living in relevant diaspora communities.

International criminal tribunals are generally ad hoc institutions responsible for investigating crimes against humanity and other matters of grave concern and operate with a limited term. There is great potential that the documentary record of these tribunals will disappear. Thus, the materials need a long-term preservation and access strategy. The vision of Virtual Tribunals is to provide access to this documentation long after these tribunals and their residual mechanisms finish operations. This project takes seriously the question of how temporary justice institutions might leave behind a legacy that will be of lasting value for scholars, experts, and international students, as well as for the people of the post-conflict societies in whose name investigations and accountability have been pursued.

Here one can explore the Nuremberg Trial Archives in its entirety, showcased in a dedicated environment optimized for archival collections. One can also explore the Virtual Tribunals exhibit, where a growing number of collections of various types are assembled, including a portion of the IMT collection, World War II U.S. Army Courts trials and Special Panel for Serious Crimes, East Timor.