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The development of international criminal justice is undoubtedly a major development in international law. The International Criminal Court is one of its emblematic figures. Its inability to deal with the Syrian tragedy, for legal reasons, has highlighted the work carried out by other actors, in particular national criminal courts exercising their universal jurisdiction. While Germany has been able to bring several trials to a successful conclusion on this basis, the French courts, despite working closely with their German counterparts, are struggling. Why is this so? The “Chaban” ruling handed down in November 2021 by the Criminal Division of the Court of Cassation highlighted the abyssal gulf between French diplomacy’s incantations to fight impunity and the national procedural straitjacket that paralyses any exercise of universal jurisdiction. Although the plenary session of the Court of Cassation, a solemn composition, saved the universal jurisdiction of French courts in extremis, we must remain constantly vigilant to ensure its effectiveness.