Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006

Implementation of Transitional Laws in Serbia 2006former Yugoslavia Statute 612 (in further text: The Hague Tribunal Statute 613 )This is, in effect, a copied Hague Tribunal Statute’s stipulation prescribingthe court’s jurisdiction. 614Authorities of the Republic of Serbia, as established by the law, shallprosecute the enlisted criminal acts if they were committed on the territoryof the former Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, regardless ofthe perpetrator’s or victim’s citizenship. 615 The following institutions aretherefore to be founded: Prosecutor’s Office for War Crimes (hereinafter:Prosecution) 616 , War Crimes Investigation Service (hereinafter: Service) 617 ,War Crimes Chamber 618 and Special Detention Unit 619 . The NationalAssembly elects the Prosecutor for War Crimes (hereinafter: Prosecutor),and, in turn, he/she appoints and dismisses Deputy Prosecutors. 620 Atthe request of the Prosecutor for War Crimes all government bodies andorganizations are required to cooperate and contribute to the war crimesperpetrators detection and prosecution. 621 The Service is establishedwithin the Ministry of the Interior and it is the Minister who appoints anddismisses the Head of the Service, following proposals obtained from theProsecutor of War Crimes. 622 War Crimes Chamber judges have a fouryearterm. 623 It should be underlined that the Law foresees founding ofa Special Administrative-Technical Department dealing with the tasksrelated to witness and victim protection and facilitating conditions for theimplementation of procedural provisions of this Law (hereinafter “SpecialDepartment”). 624When the presence of a witness or victim at the main hearing cannotbe ensured, their statements may be taken via video conference link andtheir questioning may be conducted through international legal aid. 625 TheProsecutor may initiate criminal proceedings based on facts from The612 Law on War Crimes Prosecution, Article 2, Item 1, Point 2613 The Hague Tribunal Statute was adopted on May 25 th 1993, amended on May 13 th 1998, can be downloadedfrom the site www.lawinitiative.com updated on April 3 rd 2006614 Ibid, Article 1615 Law on War Crimes Prosecution, Article 3, see above under 4616 Ibid, Article 4, Item 1617 Ibid, Article 8 , Item 1618 Ibid, Article 10, Item 1619 Ibid, Article 12, item 1620 Ibid, Article 5621 Ibid, Article 7622 Ibid, Article 8623 Ibid, Article 10, Item 2624 Ibid, Article 11, Item 2625 Ibid, Article 14118