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Legal professionals from the Balkans visit the Tribunal

The Hague |

A group of 25 Judges, Public Prosecutors and Senior Civil Servants from the Balkans visited the ICTY today to learn about the Tribunal’s history and achievements and the work of the ICTY’s Outreach Programme. Their visit was part of 10-day training on Administration of Justice and Rule of Law organised by the T.M.C. Asser Institute.

William Tomljanovich, Research Officer in the Office of the Prosecutor, explained how and why the Tribunal was established, the applicable law and how the Tribunal’s jurisprudence has evolved over time. The group gained an insider’s view into the roles and responsibilities of staff members in the Registry, Office of the Prosecutor and Chambers. The group was interested to learn how the ICTY’s work is transferred to the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals as the Tribunal completes its activities.

The Tribunal’s acting spokesperson and Outreach Officer, Nenad Golčevski, spoke with the group about the activities and goals of the ICTY Outreach Programme. After Nenad’s presentation the group discussed the work needed and attitudes towards processes of transitional justice and facing the past in the former Yugoslavia. “It is not enough for justice to be done. It needs to be seen as well,” Nenad explained, adding that “the fact that people in the region have engaged in this topic is a success in itself”.

The group’s visit concluded with a tour of one of the ICTY courtrooms. Senior Audio/Visual Director, Rob Barsony, described how the Tribunal’s advanced courtroom technology has improved the efficiency of war crimes trails, such as improved methods of witness protection and a fully electronic court document database.