Pristina, 22 May 2012
In the first of two lectures given today at Pristina University, ICTY Senior Legal Officer Wayde Pittman addressed more than 80 humanities students on the creation and development of the concept of core international crimes.
Mr Pittman gave the students some historical background information and explained how the ICTY had arrived at such groundbreaking jurisprudence as the recognition of rape as a war crime under customary international law.
The students showed their appreciation and interest by peppering Mr Pittman with questions following the lecture. Topics included: how the ICTY would accomplish its remaining work in the timeframe expected by the Security Council; why certain cases remained in the investigative and pre-trial stages for so long before proceeding to trial; and the status of the re-trial in the Haradinaj et al. case.
The afternoon lecture in the Faculty of Law was attended by approximately 200 students. Mr Pittman’s presentation focused not only on the development of the substantive law applied at the Tribunal, but also on the many procedural innovations introduced over the course of the ICTY’s two decades of existence to bring about increased fairness and expediency in its complex trial proceedings. The presentation lasted two hours and concluded with more questions than time would permit, reflecting the obvious interest on the part of the attendees to learn more about the work of the Tribunal.
Following the lecture, the students descended en masse to receive materials provided by the Tribunal’s Pristina Field Office, including copies of judgements, the Statute and Rules of Procedure of Evidence, and ‘Inside the Tribunal’ DVDs.
Law professor Mr Qerim Qerimi praised the event, saying: “This lecture was extremely welcome, very informative and filled with substance. This was a distinguished complement to more the theoretical dimension of the lectures normally given to the students.”