During this period, scholarly inquiry reframed international criminality as a contested political project rather than a neutral legal order; it emphasized how sovereignty, power, and strategic rhetoric shape the emergence and interpretation of international criminal norms. Researchers traced diffusion of prohibitions against mass atrocity and argued for the feasibility of universal accountability mechanisms, even as legitimacy questions lingered. Methodologies spanned normative analysis, jurisprudential critique, and political theory to map the nascent architecture of international criminal accountability. Historical Significance: The period solidified the theoretical case for non-derogable norms and the legitimacy of centralized mechanisms to prosecute atrocity crimes, while highlighting the constraints imposed by state consent and geopolitical realities. It also marked a turning point in conceptualizing sovereignty as compatible with internationalized justice, setting the stage for future norm-building, tribunals, and prosecutions that would redefine accountability for atrocity crimes.