In the late 1990s, in decisions regarding former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet, governments in Spain and Britain used international law to determine that perpetrators of crimes against humanity cannot claim immunity from charges against them. Spanish courts invoked the principle of universal jurisdiction to order Pinochet’s arrest; this principle holds that every state has an interest in bringing to justice the perpetrators of crimes against humanity, no matter where those crimes take place or by whom. Pinochet’s challenges to this warrant were overturned by the British House of Lords, which argued that because Chile had ratified the 1984 UN Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatments or Punishments, he could not claim immunity from charges of torture. Although Pinochet was ultimately allowed to return to Chile, where he was excused from trial for medical reasons, the decisions by the Spanish and British courts helped demonstrate that there is no immunity from prosecution on charges of torture, that such crimes can be prosecuted anywhere in the world under the principle of universal jurisdiction, and that national courts can be used to force states to fulfill their obligations under international law.