 Despite his release on grounds of ill health, the unprecedented detention of Pinochet in a foreign country for crimes against humanity committed in his own country, without a warrant or request for extradition from his own country, marked a watershed in international law.Some scholars consider it one of the most important events in legal history since the Nuremberg Trials of Nazi war criminals.Judge Garzón's case was largely founded on the principle of universal jurisdiction — that certain crimes are so egregious that they constitute crimes against humanity and can therefore be prosecuted in any court in the world.