ABSTRACT
This chapter explores strategic litigation seeking corporate accountability through extraterritorial prosecutions in Europe. The first section discusses the current practice and trends of universal jurisdiction and extraterritorial prosecutions. The second section foregrounds the collaborative nature of strategic litigation in these situations and is centred on the Berlin-based European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), which challenges the double standards of European states in the implementation of international criminal law. The third section deals with one of their legal interventions that has led to a parent corporation in France being charged with complicity in crimes against humanity for the conduct of its subsidiary outside of Europe. The case study focuses on criminal proceedings against the global cement leader, Lafarge Holcim, and the role played by ECCHR and Paris-based organization, Sherpa in this case. The final section of the chapter discusses legal and practical challenges peculiar to extraterritorial prosecutions against corporations for crimes committed in third countries.
