This paper deals with the historical development of international criminal courts. The need for the establishment of an international criminal court has always been tied to armed conflicts and wars in which the most severe crimes had been committed - and the entire international community would be interested in the trials - so international justice would not be served if the adjudication was carried out by national courts. Beside a short introduction, the work is divided into four parts. The first part covers the period before World War Two, the second encompasses the period after World War Two, where the emphasis is put on the Nuremberg and Tokyo ad hoc tribunals, the third part is dedicated to the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia (the Hague Tribunal) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, whereas the fourth part addresses the permanent International Criminal Court. The establishment of the permanent International Criminal Court is undoubtedly one of the most significant events in the history of international criminal law. The creation of the last global institution of the 20th century implied at last the materialisation of the almost hundred-year-old idea of the establishment of a supernational court within whose jurisdiction would be the most severe international crimes.