The aim of this Convention is to ensure that the punishment of crimes against humanity and the most serious violations of the laws and customs of war is not prevented by statutory limitations whether in relation to prosecution or to the enforcement of the punishment.

The text refers in particular to violations of the 1948 United Nations' Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide and to violations of the four Geneva Conventions (1949) for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces, of Prisoners of War and of Civilian Persons in Time of War.