The International Nuremberg Principles Academy (Nuremberg Academy) held a seminar on the Legacy of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and the Nuremberg Principles on 5 and 6 May 2017 in Nuremberg, Germany.
The event was organised under the auspices of the Director of the Nuremberg Academy, Mr Klaus Rackwitz, in collaboration with the ICTY. All three Principals of the Tribunal – President Carmel Agius, Prosecutor Serge Brammertz, and Registrar John Hocking – as well as current and former ICTY Judges and senior staff, took active roles in the seminar and made presentations on various aspects of the Tribunal’s work. Together with other legal experts, practitioners and academics from diverse backgrounds, they discussed the impact of the ICTY in the region of the former Yugoslavia, and its influence on the development of international criminal law and the furtherance of the Nuremberg Principles.
Opening remarks were made by the Nuremberg Academy Director and the ICTY President, followed by six panel discussions examining different aspects of the Tribunal’s work and its legacy. The first panel, moderated by Prosecutor Serge Brammertz, addressed the establishment of the ICTY as the first international criminal tribunal since Nuremberg, and the second, moderated by Registrar John Hocking, discussed the transition from international to domestic jurisprudence, as well as the development of an outreach strategy. The remaining panels on the second day focused on the evolution of substantive and procedural criminal law, along with the operational challenges, lessons learned and working practices of both the Prosecution and Defence.
This seminar, which took place in the historic Courtroom 600 of the Nuremberg Palace of Justice, is one in a series of public events to be held over the course of this final year to mark the closure of the ICTY. The aim of these events is to ensure that the Tribunal’s contribution to accountability for war crimes endures long after its doors have closed, in particular by enabling others to build on its work and achievements.
