Following an invitation from the Sarajevo Peace Academy, ICTY representative Mr Almir Alić today held a presentation about the work of the Tribunal and its achievements for a group of 10 representatives of Ukranian judiciary, parliament members, academics and NGO representatives .
Mr Alić introduced the participants to war crimes trials held before the ICTY, and explained the importance of the Tribunal’s legacy and its contributions to the strengthening of judicial institutions in the region that deal with crimes committed during the wars of the 1990s. Mr Alić also spoke about the ICTY’s Outreach activities and the valuable role they play in assisting the region to come to terms with its past.
The participants were particularly keen to learn about the relationship between the Tribunal and national judiciaries, more specifically about concurrent jurisdiction and the Tribunal’s primacy over national courts. The ICTY representative explained that, according to the Statute of the ICTY, the ICTY and national courts have concurrent jurisdiction over serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the former Yugoslavia, but that the ICTY has primacy over national courts and may request national courts to defer competence to it at any stage of the proceedings.