Responsibility for war crimes before national courts in Croatia

Abstract

This article analyses problems with which the Republic of Croatia, as a country in transition, has to contend during war crimes proceedings. A major characteristic of the recent wars waged on the territory of the former Yugoslavia is that war crimes were committed, though on a different scale, by all parties involved, irrespective of the political and other motives that prompted them to engage in armed conflict. Political unwillingness is the principal reason why national courts, including those in the Republic of Croatia, did not prosecute war crimes in accordance with internationally acceptable standards. The international community responded by setting up the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), the main objectives of which are to establish justice, render justice to victims and determine the historical truth. Implicitly, despite political and other opposition to its work, the ICTY is helping to define legal and ethical standards appropriate for a democratic society in the countries established on the territory of the former Yugoslavia. This is particularly important for the reason that all these countries aspire to membership of the European Union. The work of the ICTY, as well as proceedings before domestic courts, is therefore an important legal, political and moral catalyst on their way towards accession to the European Union. This is fully confirmed by the example of the Republic of Croatia.The disintegration of the former Yugoslavia sparked a series of wars in which numerous atrocities were committed, in particular crimes against humanity, war

The Impact of ECHR and the Case-Law of the ECtHR on the Development of the Right to Legal Assistance in International Criminal Courts (ICTY, ICTR, ICC)

“…Concerning the ICTR, it is also often called the twin tribunal of the ICTY (Bingham, 2006;Josipovic, 2006 The current stage in the development of international criminal justice is associated with the creation and activity of the permanent International Criminal Court (hereinafter referred to as the ICC). Unlike the ICTY and the ICTR, the ICC is a permanent institution and has the power to exercize its jurisdiction over persons for the most serious crimes of international concern.…”

“…Regarding the ICTR, as already mentioned above, it has often been called also the twin tribunal of the ICTY (Bingham, 2006;Josipovic, 2006;MacDonald & Swaak-Goldman, 2000); the Statute of the ICTR contains completely identical procedural rules with the ICTY, including those relating to the right to legal assistance. The ICTR's practice concerning the legal assistance is identical to that of the ICTY.…”