Judges from former Yugoslavia and ICTY share experiences on handling of war crimes cases under OSCE/ODIHR-led project

BEČIĆI, Montenegro, 27 June 2011 – Judges from the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and their peers from the region met in Bečići today to share experiences in adjudicating war crimes cases.

The peer-to-peer meeting is one of a series organized as part of the EU-funded War Crimes Justice Project, which is led by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR) in partnership with the ICTY and the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI). The aim of the project is to enhance the capacity of legal professionals in the region in processing complex war crimes cases.

Twenty-three judges from courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, Serbia and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia shared experiences with Judges Fausto Pocar and Bakone Justice Moloto from the ICTY.

The President of the Montenegrin Supreme Court Judge Vesna Medenica said in her opening remarks: ”The ICTY will soon finish its work. National courts from the former Yugoslavia are actively participating in the ICTY’s completion strategy and carrying on the Tribunal’s legacy in processing the remaining war crimes cases. The national courts can build on the institutional knowledge and expertise generated by the ICTY.“

"Bringing war crimes trials to completion is an important part of transitional justice, for building up democracy and establishing a lasting reconciliation. Reconciliation was one of the founding principles of the European Community after the Second World War, and is now an integral part of the Stabilisation and Association process between the EU and the Western Balkans,” said Ambassador Leopold Maurer, the Head of the European Union Delegation to Montenegro.

Commenting on the meeting, Judge Bakone Justice Moloto of the ICTY said: “The exchange of ideas and experiences between professionals at the ICTY and our counterparts in the region is part of the Tribunal's legacy, which is aimed at strengthening the jurisdictions of the region to enable them to continue carrying out the important work of processing war crimes cases once the Tribunal has closed down.”

The Head of the OSCE Mission to Montenegro, Ambassador Šarunas Adomavičius, said: "This event complements the OSCE Mission’s efforts in strengthening and promoting regional judicial co-operation on war crimes. Such dialogue at the level of judges is of vital importance in the pursuit of justice and rule of law.”

Since September 2010, ICTY judges have held similar regional meetings in Belgrade, Sarajevo and Zagreb. These exchanges of experience will continue throughout the region. The next meeting will take place in Sarajevo in September 2011.

The War Crimes Justice Project is a four-million euro regional project funded by the European Union and carried out by ODIHR in partnership with the ICTY, the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute (UNICRI) and OSCE field operations.

This project is funded by the European Union.

For more information please call Sanela Tunovic, War Crimes Justice Project Outreach Officer at ++387 61 539 535 or email at wcjp@odihr.pl.