International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia
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, more commonly referred to as the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia or ICTY, is a body of the United Nations established to prosecute serious crimes committed during the wars in the former Yugoslavia, and to try their perpetrators. The tribunal is an ad hoc court which is located in The Hague, the Netherlands.
The Court was established by Resolution 827 of the United Nations Security Council, which was passed on 25 May 1993. It has jurisdiction over four clusters of crimes committed on the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991: grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, violations of the laws or customs of war, genocide, and crimes against humanity. The maximum sentence it can impose is life imprisonment. Various countries have signed agreements with the UN to carry out custodial sentences.
The final indictments were issued in December 2004, the last of which were confirmed and unsealed in the spring of 2005. The Tribunal aims to complete all trials by the end of 2012 and all appeals by 2015, with the exception of Radovan Karadžić whose trial is expected to end in 2014 and recently arrested Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić.
The United Nations Security Council called upon the Tribunal to finish its work by 31 December 2014 to prepare for its closure and transfer of its responsibilities to the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals which will begin functioning for the ICTY branch on 1 July 2013. The Tribunal will conduct and complete all outstanding first instance trials, including those of Radovan Karadžić, Ratko Mladić and Goran Hadžić. It will conduct and complete all appeal proceedings for which the notice of appeal against the judgement or sentence is filed before 1 July 2013. Any appeals for which notice is filed after that date will be handled by the Residual Mechanism.
Hadžić became the last of 161 indicted fugitives to be arrested after Serbian President Boris Tadić announced his arrest on 20 July 2011.
Read more about International Criminal Tribunal For The Former Yugoslavia: Organisation, Indictees, Criticism
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