War crime trials across the OSCE region in focus at Warsaw conference

The sharp rise in the number of war crimes trials being heard by local courts across the OSCE region was the topic of discussion during a side event at the Warsaw Human Dimension Conference entitled “Beyond the Hague: the OSCE and current challenges in securing justice for victims of war crimes”, organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights, the OSCE Mission in Kosovo, and the OSCE Mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina, together with the Ukrainian Legal Advisory Group, a civil society partner from Ukraine.

“Bosnia and Herzegovina’s three decades of experience of prosecuting atrocity crimes demonstrates both what can be achieved with dedicated resources and commitment, as well as the limitations of those resources and the criminal justice system itself,” said Alexandra Link, Legal Advisor on War Crimes and Transitional Justice at the OSCE mission to Bosnia and Herzegovina.

Delivering justice to victims of grave crimes can be a complex process, often requiring comprehensive policies that span criminal and civil law procedures, as well as transitional justice mechanisms.

“Accountability advances one hearing at a time, but victims need more than verdicts. Connecting trials to reparations, truth-seeking, and memorialization turns case outcomes into meaningful justice,” pointed out Pascale Langlais, Senior Legal Officer to the OSCE Mission in Kosovo.

War crimes cases have their own legal nuances and regional circumstances. Increasingly, though, courts encounter common challenges to ensuring justice for victims, suggesting the benefits of greater cooperation, experience sharing and comparative analysis.