This Briefing Paper considers thecontext and reasons underlying thesmall number of guilt admissionsin international criminal courts andtribunals, such as the InternationalCriminal Tribunal for the FormerYugoslavia and the InternationalCriminal Court. Limited attention hasbeen paid to the rationale that may induce perpetrators of war crimes toplead guilty. In particular, as this paperoutlines, interviewing techniques may be a key component in influencingguilt admission in the investigation andtrial process. Such admissions can alsoassist in reconciliation and recognitionof past crimes. The author concludes by outlining future research on the incorporation of effective interview techniques into international war crimes investigations.