Founded in 2018, the Asia Justice Coalition’s (“AJC”/”Coalition”) purpose is:

a) to improve the legal landscape in Asia to ensure justice and accountability for gross violations of international human rights law and serious violations of international humanitarian law;

b) to strengthen and mobilize Asian civil society actors, human rights organizations, legal actors, and their allies to collectively advocate and build skills and capacity with local actors on international accountability for atrocious crimes in Asia.

The Coalition operates through collaboration, resource-sharing, and coordinating efforts between local and international civil society organizations working in the region. Its work is accomplished by undertaking joint activities relating to justice and accountability and engaging in collective advocacy.

Asia Justice Coalition’s complementarity-related activities include:

1.      Jurisdictional Briefs for Atrocity Crimes: With pro bono assistance from practitioners across the region, the AJC is publishing 9 jurisdiction-focused briefs on relevant criminal and civil causes of action that could support survivors of atrocity crimes in Asia, including the Rome Statute States. Jurisdictions include the Republic of Korea, Japan, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, and Bangladesh.

2.      Toolkit on Justice Avenues for International Crimes: The Coalition released a toolkit that provides a look at available avenues for CSO engagement within the international legal sphere. It includes easy-to-read overviews of United Nations Fact-Finding Missions and International Investigative Mechanisms, the International Criminal Court, the International Court of Justice, & the use of Universal Jurisdiction. This Toolkit is intended to assist interested parties to decide for themselves, and then engage with, the most appropriate international justice mechanisms or avenues available and relevant to their context. The toolkit is available in 9 Asian languages, including: Burmese, Bengali, English, Hindi, Indonesian, Korean, Malay, Sinhalese, and Tamil.

3.      Examining State 'Values' and 'Interests' In Pursuing Legal Accountability for International Crimes: AJC and the Centre for Peace and Justice, Brac University, Bangladesh, published three research reports examining political will in Bangladesh, Malaysia, and Indonesia in relation to accountability for international crimes committed in Myanmar. These reports identify opportunities for advocacy by reframing international accountability as not just a moral imperative but also a national interest. Such framing could expand political space to promote all available accountability mechanisms, including the exercise of universal jurisdiction where possible, as both a principled and pragmatic policy objective.

4.      Women Leader’s in International Justice and Accountability (WIJA) Project: The project develops women's leadership in international law by building expertise and facilitating constructive dialogue around critical issues of international justice and accountability. The project has launched in two of its jurisdictions- Bangladesh and Sri Lanka.

Recognising the structural bias, gendered nature, and Global North-centred orientation of international law, WIJA shifts the site of international law to our chosen jurisdictions and empowers women leaders by cultivating locally grounded expertise in international law. In each jurisdiction, we work closely with a domestic partner organisation to consult and co-design interventions-focused on the rights of refugees, other displaced persons, and minorities; mechanisms related to international criminal justice; and restorative or transitional justice-that are informed by the lived experiences, knowledge, and strategies of women practitioners.

5.      International Consultations on the Situation in Myanmar: AJC, in partnership with its members, continues to hold international consultations with relevant actors on the situation in Myanmar. In the 2019 International Conclave on Justice and Accountability for Rohingya in The Hague, experts discussed the status of justice and accountability efforts for the Rohingya and the multiple political and social components needed for a solution. In 2022, the Bangkok Consultation emphasised the value of Global South and regional responses to the continued crisis, as well as the importance of building on public positions taken by ASEAN Member States. In May 2025, AJC and the Centre for Peace and Justice at BRAC University held a third closed-door consultation in Kuala Lumpur, including a briefing on current challenges regarding Myanmar and opportunities for collaboration towards international accountability.

6.      Making Sanctions Work: Sanctions are often the first public action taken by States to address atrocity crimes. With assistance from the Cambridge Pro Bono Project, this report explores three opportunities to make sanctions work for victims of human rights and humanitarian law abuses, including atrocity crimes. These opportunities include: (1) ensuring accountability for sanctions violations; (2) developing victims funds, financed by the interest of frozen assets or the fines imposed for violations; and (3) confiscating and distributing frozen assets absent a criminal conviction.

7.      ICC Policy Papers: The Coalition has submitted input on multiple policy papers of the International Criminal Court Office of the Prosecutor, presenting regional voice and perspective: complementarity and cooperation (2023), slavery crimes (2024), and sexual and gender-based crimes (2024).

8.      Capacity Building Activities: AJC has organised multiple trainings on international justice and accountability avenues for various stakeholders in Asia, including civil society organisations, victims and survivor groups, and lawyers and paralegals.

9.      Universal Jurisdiction Convenings: The Asia Justice Coalition hosted a set of four convenings to explore the challenges of universal jurisdiction with a view to its use in the Global South as an additional avenue for justice and accountability. From 2021-2024, these closed-door workshops brought together a diverse group of over 60 practitioners, academics, and civil society organizations examining: cívil society's role in universal criminal jurisdiction proceedings, the use of universal criminal jurisdiction in the Global South, challenges to pursuing universal criminal jurisdiction in Asia, and possible causes of action beyond universal criminal jurisdiction.

10.  Strategic Litigation: AJC members are leading universal jurisdiction cases in and beyond the region, exploring justice and accountability for the Rohingya. The Coalition has undertaken mapping exercises and consultations with experts to locate national best practices, safeguards, and domestic avenues to hold perpetrators of atrocity crimes in Myanmar, including the military junta, responsible using universal jurisdiction, torture, SGBV, non-refoulment, etc.