President Theodor Meron today presented the Tribunal’s twenty-second Annual Report to the UN General Assembly. President Meron reported on the Tribunal’s significant progress in completing the last of its proceedings.
President Meron noted that this year the ICTY has already delivered two major Appeal Judgements: in the Popović et al. case, involving six appellants, and in the case of Zdravko Tolimir. President Meron anticipated that the Appeal Judgement in the Stanišić and Simatović case will be delivered by the end of 2015, leaving only four trials and two appeal proceedings ongoing at the beginning of 2016. Two trials are expected to be completed by the first quarter of next year, one further trial and one appeal completed during the remainder of 2016, and the final two cases of the ICTY completed before the end of 2017. Accordingly, the President confirmed that the ICTY is expected to complete its mandate by 2017.
The President explained that the Tribunal’s on-going downsizing has impacted staff morale and continues to present a challenge to the efficient completion of the Tribunal’s activities. President Meron stressed that addressing these matters has been a top priority. He noted that he has taken a number of measures to provide Judges with all the resources they require to fully staff cases, to deal with challenges caused by staff attrition and to minimize the delays in the delivery of judgements.
Addressing the General Assembly for the last time as President of the ICTY, President Meron stated that he has been “deeply honoured” to serve in this position and that “it has been a particular privilege to help guide the first of the modern era’s international criminal tribunals”.
According to President Meron, by accounting for every indicted individual, “the ICTY has struck a blow against impunity that is difficult to equal, its example serving as a stern warning to those who would hope to escape the consequences of their actions”. The President expressed deep gratitude to the ICTY Judges and United Nations staff who have worked tirelessly to make the Tribunal’s initial promise a reality.
The President concluded by stating that the ICTY, along with its fellow international courts, “have ushered in a new era of international law in just the past two decades alone”, and that with the support of the international community, international criminal tribunals such as the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals “can build upon these achievements in the years to come, serving as harbingers of a world reflecting the highest aspirations of our United Nations”.
