On 13 October 2017, ICTY Judge Fausto Pocar presented a lecture to students of the University of Sarajevo, explaining the vision behind the establishment of ICTY Information Centres in the region of the former Yugoslavia. Judge Pocar emphasised that such Centres will facilitate access to a digital database of ICTY records and provide a platform for education, research and other activities related to the rich legacy of the ICTY. The first ICTY Information Centre will be situated in the refurbished Sarajevo City Hall.
Over 120 students and professors from various faculties of the University of Sarajevo, including the faculties of law, political science, criminology, philosophy and security studies, attended the lecture. Students asked various questions related to the ICTY’s work and cases, for instance, on proving genocidal intent in cases related to the crimes committed in Srebrenica, and noted that these questions had a wider context. They also explored the possibility of expanding the number of protected groups under the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention. One professor asked whether there were any military judges at the Tribunal, and wondered if their engagement could have further advanced its work. At the end of the lecture, the Rector of the University of Sarajevo expressed his hope that similar presentations would be organised in the near future, despite the closure of the ICTY.