A Blog on International Justice
This Thursday, former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadžić sought a subpoena to compel former Bosnian Serb army commander, Ratko Mladić, to testify in his defense during his trial at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Although both men are on good terms in the U.N. detention Unit where they are being held, Mladić’s [...]
Reconciliation should focus on what it takes to restore the trust of citizens in each other – and in the state itself. by David Tolbert Today, on April 10*, the UN General Assembly (UN GA) is holding a thematic debate on the role of international justice in reconciliation processes. The debate was called by UN GA [...]
The ADC-ICTY (Association of Defence Counsel practicing before the ICTY) published its latest newsletter. ADC-ICTY Newsletter Issue 45 covers recent decisions and trial developments before the ICTY, including among others Mićo Stanišić and Stojan Župljanin’s sentences of 22 years imprisonment, new Defence witnesses in the Karadžić case and Radisclav Krstić pleading not guilty for his [...]
This Wednesday, the United States, Canada and Jordan boycotted a meeting on international criminal justice organized by Vuk Jeremić, the president of the United Nations General Assembly because it didn’t include Bosnia’s war victims and would likely attack the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). To protest the victims’ exclusion, Jordan’s U.N. Ambassador Prince Zeid [...]
The thematic debate on the role of international criminal justice in reconciliation organised today at the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) opened a controversy over the alleged lack of consideration for victims of the Bosnian war and expected attacks at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). The event is organised by the [...]
Radislav Krstić, former Commander of the Bosnian Serb Army, has been charged with contempt of the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for failing to comply with, or to show good cause why he could not comply with, a subpoena in which he was ordered to testify in the case of Radovan [...]
Mićo Stanišić and Stojan Župljanin, two former high level officials in Bosnian Serb structures, were today each sentenced to 22 years imprisonment by the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for crimes against humanity and war crimes committed between April and December 1992 in Bosnia and Herzegovina (BiH). Mićo [...]
The ADC-ICTY (Association of Defence Counsel practicing before the ICTY) just published its latest newsletter. ADC-ICTY Newsletter Issue 44 covers recent decisions and trial developments before the ICTY, including cases of Šainović et al., Karadžić, and Hadžić. The newsletter also addresses recent events at the international courts and tribunals as well as general international law [...]
The Trial Chamber Judgment in the case of Mićo Stanišić and Stojan Župljanin, two former high ranking Bosnian Serb officials accused of crimes committed against non-Serb civilians in various areas of Bosnia and Herzegovina between April and December 1992, is scheduled to be rendered on Wednesday, 27 March 2013 by the International Criminal Tribunal for [...]
On Thursday, March 7, 2013, the Appeals Chamber of the ICTY terminated the appeal proceedings against Milan Gvero following his death on February 17, 2013. Milan Gvero’s was the Assistant Commander for Morale, Legal and Religious Affairs of the VRS Main Staff and, along with six others, was charged with crimes in and around Srebrenica [...]
Today, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) has acquitted Momčilo Perišić, former Chief of the General Staff of the Yugoslav Army. Mr. Perišić was accused of crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or customs of war. On 6 September 2011, the Trial Chamber found Mr. Perišić guilty [...]
by Wayne Jordash – iLawyer The concept of a court’s legacy has been defined by the United Nations (UN) as the “lasting impact on bolstering the rule of law in a particular society, by conducting effective trials to contribute to ending impunity, while also strengthening domestic judicial capacity.” Unless we are supposed to extrapolate from [...]
The Appeal Judgment in the case of Prosecutor v. Momčilo Perišić before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) is scheduled to be rendered on 28 February 2013 at 3:00 p.m. The Judgement will be broadcast live on the Tribunal’s website. Momčilo Perišić was sentenced to 27 years of imprisonment on 6 September [...]
Yugoslav Army General Dragoljub Ojdanic withdrew his appeal against the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) verdict (Vol I – Vol II – Vol III – Vol IV) against him, when he was found guilty of deportation and “other inhumane acts” against Kosovo Albanians. The General confessed that he committed war crimes against Kosovo [...]
Judges at International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) denied this week Radovan Karadzic’s request to subpoena Naser Orić, the wartime commander of Bosnian Muslim forces in the eastern enclave of Srebrenica. Orić is known to the ICTY from his previous indictment for charges of murder and cruel treatment of Serb prisoners and for destroying Serb [...]
by Dr. Guénaël Mettraux The recent acquittals of Messrs Haradinaj, Gotovina and their fellow defendants have been greeted by very public expressions of disapproval from past and present ICTY Prosecutors. Before she had even read the Gotovina Judgment, a former ICTY Prosecutor expressed the view that the Judgment was wrong and that she had been [...]
by Luka Misetic A version with footnotes and references is available here. On 16 November 2012, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) established that Ante Gotovina and Mladen Markac are innocent as a matter of law, and that there is insufficient evidence of a Joint Criminal Enterprise to remove the Serb population from Croatia [...]
by Guénaël Mettraux In a 7 December op-ed in the New York Times entitled “Selective Justice for the Balkans”, David Harland, Executive Director for Center for Humanitarian Dialogue, started a conversation on what he saw as the failure of the ICTY to be equal to all. Responding to that invitation, Marko Attila Hoare, an author [...]
The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) today sentenced Zdravko Tolimir to life imprisonment after the former high ranking official of the Bosnian Serb Army (VRS) was found guilty of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes. Zdravko Tolimir was first indicted in 2005 and arrested in 2007 for his alleged involvement in [...]
The ADC-ICTY (Association of Defence Counsel practicing before the ICTY) just published its latest newsletter. ADC-ICTY Newsletter Issue 40 covers recent decisions and trial developments before the ICTY, including cases of Perišić, Lukić & Lukić, Haradinaj et al, Mladić, Hadžić, Karadžić. The newsletter also addresses recent events at the international courts and tribunals as well as [...]
This Friday, Sredoje Lukić’s Defence Team issued a press statement about the ICTY Appeals Judgment of 4 December in which their client was sentenced to 27 years imprisonment. The Defence Team says that the Judgment creates a potential miscarriage of justice relating to the acceptance of a fundamental misidentification of the defendant which constitutes the sole [...]
On 4 December 2012, Counsel for Ante Gotovina in front of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) sent a complaint to the U.N. Secretary-General, Mr. Ban Ki-moon, in relation to the statements made in the Serbian newspaper Blic by the former ICTY Prosecutor, Carla Del Ponte, about the recent acquittal of the Croatian [...]
Sredoje and Milan Lukić Today, the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) affirmed the sentence of life imprisonment for Milan Lukić, and reduced the sentence for Sredoje Lukić from 30 to 27 years of imprisonment. Both Accused were convicted for crimes against humanity and violations of the laws or [...]
Today, the Trial Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY) acquitted of all charges Ramush Haradinaj, the former Prime Minister of Kosovo and a former commander of the Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA); and two ex-commanders of the KLA, Idriz Balaj and Lahi Brahimaj. The three Accused were charged as members of a [...]
by Dr Miša Zgonec-Rožej This analysis is an expanded and modified version of the Chatham House expert comment. If you wish to see it, click here. The Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), on Friday, 16 November 2012, overturned the convictions of two Croatian generals, Ante Gotovina and Mladen [...]