Complementarity: Contest or Collaboration? - FICHL

Complementarity and the Exercise of Universal Jurisdiction for
Core International Crimes
have been the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia
(ICTY) 11 and Rwanda (ICTR) 12 , which were established in 1994 and 1995
respectively. These tribunals have their own Trial Chambers and a shared
Appeals Chamber. The decisions of the Chambers of the two tribunals
have greatly contributed to the development of the international law of
war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity. As of 14 March 2010,
the ICTY has indicted 161 persons, the cases of 116 of those have been
completed resulting in convictions and sentences of 62 persons in 48
separate trial processes 13 plus 11 acquittals, while it also has transferred
eight cases involving 13 persons to national jurisdictions, all to Bosnia
and Herzegovina except two to Croatia and one to Serbia 14 . The ICTR has
indicted 90 persons of whom 75 have been arrested and 40 convicted in
32 judgments 15 (plus another seven have been acquitted) while
transferring three persons to national jurisdictions, one to the Netherlands
and two to France 16 .
Apart from the activities of the two ad hoc tribunals, there has been
a lot of work done under the auspices of the United Nations to establish a
permanent international criminal court. The Statute of the International
11 The official name is “The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible
for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory
of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991” and was established on 25 May 1993 as the
result of Security Council Resolution 837 (UNDOC S/RES/827 (1993)).
12 The official name of the tribunal is “The International Criminal Tribunal for the
Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Genocide and Other Serious Violations of
International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of Rwanda and Rwandan
citizens responsible for genocide and other such violations in the territory of
neighbouring States, between 1 January 1994 and 31 December 1994” and was
established by Security Council Resolution UNDOC S/RES/955 on 8 November 1994.
13 See http://www.un.org/icty/glance-e/index.htm, under “Key Figures”.
14 Namely Janković, decided by both the Trial and Appeal Chamber; Stanković, both
TC and AC; Todović/Rašević, both TC and AC; Mejakić/Gruban/Kneţević/Dušan
Fuštar, TC and AC; Ademi/Norac, TC; Ljubiĉić, TC and AC; Kovaĉević, TC and AC,
and Trbić, TC, all to BiH except two to Croatia (Ademi/Norac) and one to Serbia
(Kovaĉević).
15 See Report on the Completion Strategy of the International Criminal Tribunal for
Rwanda, 21 November 2007, paragraph 60.
16 Bagaragaza, TC and AC to the Netherlands (however, this transfer has been cancelled,
see footnotes 48, 132 and 133); Bucyibaruta, TC and Munyeshyaka, TC, to
France.
FICHL Publication Series No. 7 (2010) – page 10