scholarly journals Legacies of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

2020 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Access To Justice ◽  
Legal Systems ◽  
Working Practices ◽  
The Impact

The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has left a rich legal, institutional, and non-judicial legacy. Many of the classical juridical footprints of the work of the ICTY are covered in legal treatises or reflective volumes. This book sheds a broader light on some of the working practices, challenges, and critiques of the ICTY. It starts from the assumption that the notion of legacy deserves consideration from multiple disciplinary standpoints, and that there is not one, but at best multiple legacies. It explores (i) historic legacy, that is, the contribution of the ICTY to the framing of facts and events, including the value of the records in combating denial of crimes; (ii) investigative and experiential legacy, including approaches towards identifying evidence, experiences related to the delivery of testimony, and access to justice; (iii) procedural legacies, including lessons learned from the management of proceedings, the treatment of parties, and outreach; (iv) retribution and punishment; (v) normative legacies, that is, the impact of the work of the Tribunal on domestic legal systems; and (vi) ongoing debates over impact and societal reception. The book draws on insights from multiple disciplines and combines voices from inside the Tribunal with external perspectives.

scholarly journals Review of Some Procedural Witness Protective Measures at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (34) ◽  
pp. 251
Author(s):  
Romina Beqiri
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Fair Trial ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Protective Measures ◽  
Balkan Region ◽  
The Right ◽  
The Impact

Given the spread terror and the abuses perpetrated in the Balkan region, many victims and witnesses of atrocities were deterred from testifying. The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY or Tribunal) facilitated the appearance of witnesses and protected them in case of intimidation including by taking measures against those who would violate the confidentiality of the proceedings. This article aims to introduce some of the witness protective measures before the Tribunal, and particularly threats and risks they have faced in the context of the cases dealt with by the Tribunal. It reflects also upon groundbreaking measures of protection decided by the Tribunal and the challenges it has faced over the last two decades. It finally discusses the impact of such challenges on the right to a fair trial and how they were addressed.

Translating and Interpreting at the ICTY

2020 ◽  
pp. 337-354
Author(s):  
Ellen Elias-Bursać
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
Evidence Translation ◽  
To Come ◽  
The Impact

Procedures developed at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in response to issues concerning evidence translation and testimony interpretation have provided international criminal courts and tribunals with expertise and insight. These will shape the profession for decades to come. As to the impact on jurisprudence, the Conference and Language Service Section (CLSS), being part of Registry, played a key—often underestimated—role in ensuring the equality of arms between the parties. In a larger sense, the provisional nature of translated texts and interpreted testimony encourages challenges and disputes, and these discussions move the proceedings to a greater understanding; precisely because the obstacles presented by dealing with other languages and cultures force everyone in the courtroom to pay more attention to communication and meaning. It is this constant querying of what everyone thought they did or did not understand that takes these complex trials to completion and comprehension.

The International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia: Planners and Instigators or Foot Soldiers?

2009 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 345-357
Author(s):  
Philip Caine
Keyword(s):  
Ad Hoc ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Humanitarian Law ◽  
The Balkans ◽  
Military Tribunal ◽  
Selection Of

The International Military Tribunal at Nuremberg prosecuted the most infamous criminals of the Nazi regime whereas the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has brought to trial only two of the ‘big guns' of the Balkans conflicts. The aim of this study is to assess the effectiveness of the ICTY in fulfilling its mandate to prosecute those most responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed during the conflicts of the Former Yugoslavia. The research combines a literature-based assessment of the ICTY together with focused interviews of the main decision-makers in the Office of the Prosecutor, and seeks to assess the factors involved in the initiation of investigations and the selection of individuals for indictment. The independence and autonomy of the Prosecutor is identified as one of the most significant factors in the selection of indictees, but whilst the highest ranking individuals were always the main targets for indictment by the Office of the Prosecutor, the findings suggest that a weak mandate, inadequate resources and indifference by the international community forced the hand of the Prosecutor into indicting lower level suspects. Further ad hoc tribunals are planned by the United Nations and the lessons learned from the experience of the ICTY are essential if they are to administer international justice effectively.

Judgments and Judgment Drafting

2020 ◽  
pp. 282-306
Author(s):  
Thomas Wayde Pittman ◽  
Marko Divac Öberg
Keyword(s):  
Decision Making ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Support Staff ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Judicial Decision ◽  
Judicial Decision Making ◽  
Significant Length ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Important Purpose

One of the legacies of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) will be its many trial and appeal judgments with significant length. These are accompanied by a ‘reasoned opinion in writing’ which drastically varies in size. Those written reasoned opinions, also referred to as judgments, serve an important formal and tangible purpose. They are intergovernmental judicial decision-making records of judicially-determined factual and legal findings and conclusions concerning atrocities committed in the former Yugoslavia. Politically, they serve a less tangible, but no less important, purpose—as the Tribunal’s contribution to the restoration and maintenance of peace in the former Yugoslavia. Yet, for possessing such importance, little is known about how the judgments come into existence. Who drafts them and how and what are the stages? Who are the legal support staff involved? What determines structure, content, language, and style? How is an opinion ‘reasoned’? What has been the impact of ICTY judgments? This chapter seeks to answer these questions.

Convictions for Command Responsibility Under Articles 7(1) and 7(3) of the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

2002 ◽  
Vol 15 (4) ◽  
pp. 805-834 ◽  
Author(s):  
Thomas Henquet
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Case Law ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
Double Jeopardy ◽  
The Impact

This article discusses whether it is permissible to cumulatively convict a superior under both Articles 7(1) and 7(3) of the ICTY Statute. After introducing the various modes of command responsibility under each provision, the discussion is premised on the double jeopardy/non bis in idem concerns underlying the case law of the Tribunal, and that of the ICTR, in relation to cumulative convictions for substantive offences. The article first presents arguments supporting the proposition that superiors should not be held cumulatively responsible under the aforementioned provisions. It then presents arguments to the contrary, including considerations in relation to the impact on sentencing. In this light, the article critically appraises the case law of both Tribunals.

scholarly journals The Impact of the ICTY on the Former Yugoslavia: An Anticipatory Postmortem

2016 ◽  
Vol 110 (2) ◽  
pp. 233-259 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marko Milanović
Keyword(s):  
International Criminal ◽  
International Criminal Tribunal ◽  
Former Yugoslavia ◽  
International Criminal Tribunals ◽  
The Impact

A strange thing about the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is that for most of its life, it has thought about its death. The Tribunal, of course, kept getting a reprieve. But today it seems more likely than not that the ICTY will indeed close down sometime in 2017, after the conclusion of the two cases it currently has at trial. Yet even after its closure, the ICTY will continue in a sort of un-death, through the unfortunately named Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, which will complete retrial and appellate proceedings in the cases currently tried before the ICTY.

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