Establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal in the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY): dealing with the "war raging at the heart of Europe"

In: Romanian journal of european affairs, Band 11, Heft 1, S. 100-108

Abstract

Much has been written on the question of disintegration of the former Yugoslavia and the conflict that followed . A lot of scholarly attention was devoted to the analysis of the reasons of the Yugoslav war, political, military, psychological and other aspects of the conflict and ways of conflict resolution. International community responses to the conflict have also been much discussed . Post-conflict reconstruction, relations of the Balkan states with the EU, compliance with the EU accession criteria have been extensively covered as well . Less attention, however, was given to the process of creation of the International Criminal Tribunal in the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), an institution established to try individuals responsible for international crimes committed during the conflict, cooperation with which is currently one of the most important EU accession criteria for the Balkan states. The ICTY was primarily discussed by legal scholars, who attempted to analyze the impact the Tribunal made on the development of international criminal justice . This article attempts to show how historical analogies were used in the process of creating the ICTY. The rhetoric of "war raging at the heart of Europe", threatening to undermine developments in the "new Europe" was frequently employed by politicians in the discussions leading to the creation of the Tribunal. Keywords: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, historical analogies, international criminal justice. (Romanian Journal of European Affairs / SWP)