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Progress and Jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
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1999
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Criminal CodeLegal ImplicationsLawCriminal LawInternational CrimesAdministrative LawInternational CourtComparative Criminal LawMay 1993International Criminal LawFormer YugoslaviaCrime Against HumanityInternational Criminal CourtsWar CrimesInternational LawInternational Humanitarian LawPublic International LawCriminal JusticeComparative LawInternational CriminologyInternational Legal StudiesTransitional JusticeInternational Criminal PracticeInternational Criminal Tribunal
In May 1993, the United Nations Security Council established the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Over the past five years, the ICTY has shifted from an institution lacking a basic structure, staff and other resources—not to mention indictees in custody—to a fully functioning tribunal pursuing (as of December 1998) twenty-two public indictments against fifty-six indictees; twenty-eight indictees are in custody, awaiting trial or serving a sentence; five have been convicted; one has pleaded guilty; one has been acquitted; several trials are under way; and several more are in pretrial stages. Although its ultimate success is not yet guaranteed, the ICTY is coming of age as a credible forum for the international prosecution of war crimes within its jurisdiction. The following account describes the ICTY’s current status, analyzes its jurisprudence (as seen in its most significant decisions), and briefly assesses its place in the development of international humanitarian law.