The new President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), H. E. Carmel Agius addresses the Diplomatic Community, Thursday the 25th of February, 2016.
By Elizabeth Naumczyk.
On the 25th of February, 2016 the new ICTY President Carmel Agius held a briefing for the diplomatic community in The Hague on the work of the Tribunal, as well as on his priorities and plans for the biennium. The President was joined by the Vice-President, Judge Liu Daqun and the Tribunal Registrar John Hocking who also addressed the states’ representatives. The addresses by the President and the Registrar were followed by a session of questions and answers. The briefing was attended by over 90 diplomats.
President Agius is not new to the ICTY having served as a Judge since 2001 and as Vice-President for the 4 previous years before assuming the Presidency in November 2015. He is also a judge of the MICT ( Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals). He pointed out his key priorities: “first and foremost, meeting the 2017 deadline for the closure of the Tribunal; second, ensuring the efficiency of proceedings without sacrificing the fairness and quality of judicial proceedings and third, consolidating the image of the Tribunal and the impact of its work.” (See ICTY Press Release http://www.icty.org/en/press/president-agius-addressed-diplomatic-community ). After the closure of the ICTY, the MICT will take over completely with a branch in Arusha, Tanzania and another in The Hague, The Netherlands.
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President Agius stated he was fortunate to take office at a time when the Tribunal is fully operational, strong and has been well-prepared for its last biennium. He explained the forthcoming month would be a hugely significant month for the Tribunal with the pronouncement of two Judgements. That of the Radovan Karadžić Trial on the 24th of March and the Vojislav Šešelj Trial on the 31st of March.
He also indicated the remaining cases (4 ongoing cases and 2 appeals) were well on track to be concluded in a timely manner. He saw no difficulties with the Security Council extending the offices of 7 judges, whose term will end this year, until the end of 2017. To date the Tribunal has indicted 161 persons and concluded the proceedings for 149 accused. There are no outstanding indictments and no fugitives.
Furthermore, he said “ the Security Council requested that the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) carry out an evaluation with respect to the methods and work of the ICTY, in the context of the implementation of the Completion Strategy pursuant to resolution 1966 (2010), and to present its report by 1 June 2016. It also further requested for the Tribunal to report on the implementation of the OIOS recommendations in its next six-monthly report to the Council”. (See United Nations Meetings Coverage and Press Releases 22 December, 2015 http://www.un.org/press/en/2015/sc12177.doc.htm) President Agius said he looked forward to addressing the recommendations and being able to make the work of the Tribunal additionally efficient.
He thanked China for responding to requests made by the ICTY to the Security Council for experienced staff and for sending a team of academics and lawyers to assist with the drafting of judgements. He thanked Vice-President, Judge Liu Daqun for his work to make this happen. He also thanked the services of all the past and present talented staff of the Tribunal who had contributed to the success of the Tribunal.
The President stressed how important it was for ambassadors to assist the Tribunal’s continuing work with both domestic and international authorities with respect to creating information centres in the ex republics of Yugoslavia and an archival legacy for people of the region and scholars. He mentioned the significant contribution of the European Union (EU) to the outreach program.
In 2017 the Tribunal is planning conferences both in The Hague and the former Yugoslavia focusing on legacy issues. Exhibitions, some permanent, will also be created in the region and this activity will be continued by the MICT.
The Tribunal’s legacy is also its contribution to developing and enriching international criminal and international humanitarian law since the Nuremberg Trials. Universities have now introduced the study of international criminal law and the study of international humanitarian law didn’t exist in the past. The ICTY receives visitors who participate in proceedings. In total a 1,000 interns have been trained and 7,000 staff have worked at the ICTY.
In response to questions regarding legacy, The President further elaborated that the ICTY was created in a hurry and, unlike the ICC, had no body of rules of evidence and procedure. The rule of evidence and procedure had to be built from scratch by the first judges and their successors. International criminal law has subsequently improved on the Nuremberg and Tokyo trials with a greater variety of crimes and crimes that were not fully developed under international criminal law, such as sexual crimes. However, there is still fragmentation as different Courts and Tribunals adopt differing interpretations, for example, the ICTY, European Court of Human Rights (ECHR), the International Court of Justice (ICJ) take a different approach in what is vital for the element of genocide. All this triggers fertile experiences to achieve uniformity and it depends on the ICC, as the permanent court, to decide what it considers important to be left as a legacy.
Speaking about the key goals of the Tribunal, President Agius said that “it is fundamental that in the remaining biennium, the Tribunal continues its commitment to fostering peace and security in the former Yugoslavia, to ending impunity for the commission of international crimes and to preventing their recurrence in the region.”
President Agius ended his remarks by stressing he was not only the new ICTY President, but also the last, stating that: “As the last President of the ICTY, I have the honour of guiding its closure in 2017, which must be done in an efficient, professional and exemplary manner.”
The Registrar, John Hocking, pointed out that the Tribunal had downsized from 1300 staff, when it operated at full capacity, to 400 staff. Auditors had praised the Tribunal for its fairness and transparency in its downsizing operations of staff with no internal disputes.
The Registry, he reiterated, needs the support of its Member States and its Host State. It is the engine of operations and generates, judicial, legal and external support. To date all the accused had access to highly qualified defence lawyers; the detention centre met required standards and is monitored by the Red Cross; the Registry continues to provide support to victim and witnesses; and there is now an increased number of domestic courts in the former ex Yugoslavia.
Last year the General Assembly had decreased the budget by half. The ICTY will undertake liquidation proceedings and transfer its assets, functions as well as the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) to the MICT.
The Registrar also added that the immortal legacy of the ICTY is its best practice as an international criminal court and enriching the heritage of the Bosian, Serbian, Croatian (BSE) languages. The Tribunal continues to welcome visitors and improve access to its records and outreach to the Balkans.
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