Arusha, The Hague, 19 January 2023 – The Registrar of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, Abubacarr M. Tambadou, today opened the second semester of the fourth cycle of the Inter-University Video Lecture Programme, “International Law and Facts Established before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)”, with a lecture on the role and functions of the Mechanism for law students from across the countries of the former Yugoslavia.
Registrar Tambadou provided the students with the historical background of the Mechanism’s establishment and discussed in detail its role and functions. He also outlined the challenges faced by the Mechanism in carrying out a number of essential functions previously carried out by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the ICTY and discussed the similarities and key differences between the mandates of the Mechanism and its two predecessor Tribunals. He engaged with the students during a question and answer session where the Registrar expanded on the Mechanism’s role in maintaining the legacies of these two pioneering ad hoc international criminal tribunals.
Today’s lecture was the eighth in the fourth cycle of the Programme, which launched in October 2022 with a lecture by the Mechanism’s President, Judge Graciela Gatti Santana. Students also received lectures by experienced lawyers from the Mechanism’s Office of the President, Chambers, the Office of the Prosecutor, as well as by a member of the Defence, covering such topics as the destruction of cultural heritage, joint criminal enterprise, prosecution of war-time sexual violence and the rights of the accused.
The Programme, developed and implemented by the Mechanism Information Programme for Affected Communities (MIP), brings together more than 150 postgraduate students from across the former Yugoslavia to initiate a dialogue about the region’s recent history, the role of the ICTY and the principles of international criminal law and international humanitarian law. The fourth cycle of the Programme is anticipated to continue with lectures delivered on a weekly basis until the end of March this year.
Together with the participating universities, the MIP has created a regional network of law faculties – the first of its kind – where law students from different countries in the Balkans region can learn about – and discuss – the work of the ICTY and its legacy. The lecture series not only builds the students’ knowledge, capacity and understanding of international criminal law and international humanitarian law, but also serves as a platform for genuine dialogue between law students from the countries of the former Yugoslavia.
The network includes faculties of the Union University in Belgrade, the University of Donja Gorica, the University of Niš, the University of Peja, the University of Podgorica, the University of Priština, the University of Sarajevo, the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skopje, the University of Split, the University of Vitez, the University of Zagreb, and the University of Zenica.
The Programme forms part of the wider MIP, launched in January 2019, aiming to increase awareness and knowledge among affected communities about the 1990s conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, based on ICTY and Mechanism cases. The MIP is funded by the European Union.
