| Press Release | TRIBUNAL |
(Exclusively for the use of the media. Not an official document)
Extraordinary Plenary Session of 30 September 2002
On Monday, 30 September 2002, the Judges held an extraordinary plenary session in order to implement the decisions stemming from the debate at the United Nations Security Council on 23 July 2002 during which the President presented the Tribunal’s completion strategy. In particular, the Judges discussed and adopted measures to facilitate implementing the principle of referring cases to national courts.
This referral principle was endorsed by the United Nations Security Council in a Statement of its President on 23 July 2002. The Security Council indicated "that the ICTY should concentrate its work on the prosecution and trial of the civilian, military and paramilitary leaders suspected of being responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991, rather than on minor actors". By endorsing the Tribunal’s broad strategy, the Council took "note of the intention of the ICTY to amend its Rules of Procedure and Evidence in order to facilitate the referral of cases to competent national jurisdictions."
The Judges amended Rule 11 bis of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence so that they now have an appropriate provision for referring certain cases either to the courts of the State in whose territory the accused was arrested or to the courts of the State in whose territory the crimes were committed. Moreover, the new Rule 11 bis will also permit the Judges to refer cases whether or not the accused are in the custody of the International Tribunal.
The Judges also decided to set up a working group to improve the judicial practices in force at the Tribunal.
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International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
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