War crimes trials in Bosnia and Herzegovina : selected aspects of transitional justice mechanisms / Dr. iur. Lejla Rüedi.
2015
KJK8454.5 .R84 2015 (Map It)
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Details
Author
Title
War crimes trials in Bosnia and Herzegovina : selected aspects of transitional justice mechanisms / Dr. iur. Lejla Rüedi.
Published
Zürich : Dike, [2015]
Call Number
KJK8454.5 .R84 2015
Former Call Number
Bos 844 R836 2015
ISBN
3037516763
9783037516768
9783037516768
Description
xxi, 392 pages ; 23 cm.
System Control No.
(OCoLC)932301756
Bibliography, etc. Note
Includes bibliographical references (pages 301-317).
Record Appears in
Table of Contents
Abbreviations
xix
Part 1: Mechanisms to deal with the legacy of the 1992-1995 armed conflict
1
1.
How this study proceeds
1
2.
Introduction
4
I.
Transitional Justice
8
II.
Methodology
10
A.
Empirical Research
10
1.
Trial Monitoring
12
a.
Closed Trial Sessions
13
b.
Relevant Information for Visitors wishing to attend Trial Sessions
14
2.
Expert - Interviews
16
3.
Expert - Seminar Monitoring
17
4.
Informal Interviews
18
B.
Literature Review
18
C.
Court Files
18
3.
Background
19
I.
1991-1995 in a Nutshell
20
II.
General Framework Agreement for Peace (GFAP)
21
A.
State Structure under the GFAP
23
B.
Office of the High Representative (OHR)
25
1.
Legal Basis of the High Representative's Actions
27
2.
Legal Protection from Individual Decisions of the High Representative
28
3.
Validity of Legal Acts of the High Representative upon the Completion of his Mandate
31
III.
Dayton Constitution: Ethnopolitical "Democracy"
32
A.
Bosniacs, Croats and Serbs as Constituent Peoples
33
B.
Who are the "Others"?
33
1.
Entity Voting
35
2.
Vital National Interest Clause
36
3.
Vital Interest of the Presidency
37
4.
Critical Assessment
38
IV.
Human Rights Protection
40
A.
Commission on Human Rights
42
B.
Human Rights Ombudsman
42
C.
Human Rights Chamber
43
D.
Human Rights Commission
47
E.
BiH Constitutional Court
47
1.
Composition
48
2.
Jurisdiction
48
F.
Critical Assessment
50
4.
"International Community" in the BiH Context
51
I.
UNDP
52
II.
OSCE
53
III.
Council of Europe (CoE)
53
IV.
U.S.A.
53
V.
European Union
54
VI.
Critical Assessment
55
5.
Amnesty Laws
56
6.
Non-Judicial Truth Seeking Mechanisms
60
I.
Fact Finding Commission for Sarajevo
62
II.
Srebrenica Commission
62
III.
Truth and Reconciliation Commission of the Municipal Assembly of Bijeljina
63
IV.
Institutions Searching for Missing Persons
63
V.
Evaluation
66
7.
Vetting
66
I.
High Representative
67
II.
Independent Judicial Commission/High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council (HJPC)
68
III.
United Nations Mission in Bosnia and Herzegovina (UNMIBH)
68
Part 2: War Crimes Prosecutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina
71
8.
War Crimes Trials before Military Courts
72
I.
District Military Courts under Control of the former Republic of BiH
74
II.
Military Courts under Control of the former RS BiH
75
9.
Domestic War Crimes Trials and the Role of the ICTY
76
I.
ICTY Completion Strategy
76
II.
International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals
78
III.
Rules of the Road Cases
80
IV.
Procedure under Rule 11 bis ICTY RPE
83
10.
Overview of the Structure of Courts and Prosecutor Offices
85
I.
State-Level Courts
86
A.
BiH State Court
86
B.
Entity Courts
89
1.
FBiH
90
a.
Municipal Courts
90
b.
Cantonal Courts
90
c.
Supreme Court
91
d.
Constitutional Court
91
2.
RS BiH
91
a.
Basic Courts
92
b.
District Courts
92
c.
Supreme Court
92
d.
Constitutional Court
92
3.
BD BiH
93
C.
Cooperation between the BiH State Court and Entity Courts
93
D.
Prosecutor Offices
94
1.
State Prosecutor's Office
95
2.
Prosecutor's Offices in the Entities
98
a.
FBiH Prosecutor Offices
99
b.
RS BiH Prosecutor Offices
100
c.
BD BiH Prosecutor Office
100
E.
Cooperation between the State-Level and Entity-Level Prosecutor Offices
101
11.
Judges and Prosecutors
102
A.
International Judges and Prosecutors
102
1.
Appointment
105
2.
Qualifications
106
3.
Training
107
B.
National Judges and Prosecutors
107
1.
Appointment
107
2.
Qualification
108
3.
Training
109
4.
Ethnicity
111
12.
Registry of the BiH State Court
112
A.
Registry's Transition
114
B.
Transitional Council
116
C.
Implementation of the Transition Plan
116
D.
Public Information and Outreach Office (PIOS)
117
E.
Prosecution Support Section (PSS)
117
13.
Criminal Defense Section
118
14.
Cooperation between Domestic Courts, Prosecutor Offices and the ICTY
120
15.
Regional Cooperation
122
16.
Judicial Reforms
126
A.
National War Crimes Prosecution Strategy
126
B.
BiH Justice Sector Reform Strategy
128
C.
Transitional Justice Strategy
130
Part 3: Key Aspects of Substantive and Procedural Criminal Law in War Crimes Trials
133
17.
Substantive Criminal Law
133
I.
Principle of Legality in Domestic War Crimes Trials
135
A.
International Level
136
1.
Principle of Non-Retroactivity (lex praevia)
136
2.
Crimes against Humanity
137
3.
Excursus: International Jurisprudence on Retroactive Punishment of Crimes Against Humanity
139
a.
Nuremberg Tribunal
139
b.
ICTY
141
c.
ECtHR
143
4.
Excursus: Jus cogens or Customary Status of Crimes against Humanity
146
a.
Crimes against Humanity as Jus Cogens Norm?
146
b.
Since When are Crimes against Humanity Part of Customary International Law?
147
5.
Summary
148
B.
Domestic Level
149
1.
Principle of Non-Retroactivity (lex praevia)
149
a.
Principle of Non-Retroactivity in the former SFRY
149
b.
Principle of Non-Retroactivity in BiH
152
2.
Crimes against Humanity
154
a.
Excursus: The Convention on the Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity in the SFRY
154
b.
BiH and the Convention on the Applicability of Statutory Limitations to War Crimes and Crimes against Humanity
156
c.
2003 BiH CC
156
3.
Domestic Courts on Punishability of Crimes against Humanity
158
a.
BiH Constitutional Court
158
b.
BiH Entity Courts
159
c.
BiH State Court
160
4.
Summary
162
C.
Retroactive Punishment (Nulla Poena Sine Lege)
163
1.
1976 SFRY CC and Nulla Poena SineLege
163
2.
2003 BiH Criminal Code and Nulla Poena Sine Lege
164
3.
Maximum Penalties
165
a.
Maximum Penalty pursuant the 1976 SFRY CC
165
b.
Maximum Penalty pursuant the 1998 FBiH CC
165
c.
Maximum Penalty pursuant the 2003 BiH CC
165
d.
Abolishment of the Death Penalty
165
e.
Domestic Jurisprudence on Maximum Penalty
166
f.
Summary
168
D.
Critical Assessment on the Principle of Legality in Domestic War Crimes Trials
169
II.
Excursus: Punishability of Command Responsibility for Omissions
171
A.
International Legislation and Jurisprudence
171
B.
Domestic Legislation and Jurisprudence on Command Responsibility
173
1.
Convention on Statutory Limitations and Implementation into the Domestic Legislation
173
2.
Additional Protocol I
173
3.
Command Responsibility pursuant the 1976 SFRY CC
176
4.
Selected Case Law of Entity Courts
178
5.
Command responsibility pursuant the 2003 BiH CC
179
6.
Selected Case Law of the BiH State Court
180
C.
Summary and Critical Assessment
181
18.
Criminal Procedure
182
I.
New CPC at the State-Level
183
II.
Course of Trial Proceedings
188
A.
Pre-Trial Stage/Investigation Phase
189
B.
Indictment Stage
191
C.
Main Trial
193
1.
Status Conferences
194
2.
Immunity for Witnesses
194
3.
Amendment of an Indictment
195
4.
Presentation of Evidence and Witnesses
195
5.
Formal Truth Requirement
198
D.
Sentencing Hearing
200
E.
Appeal
201
III.
Use of Evidence Collected by the ICTY in Proceedings before Domestic Courts in BiH
202
A.
Transfer of Cases by ICTY
203
B.
Facts Established by Legally Binding Decisions by the ICTY
204
1.
Aim of Article 4 Law on Transfer
206
2.
Judicial Notice of Adjudicated Facts
206
a.
Agreement Between the Parties on Judicial Notice
209
b.
Criteria for Accepting Judicial Notice
211
aa.
Fact Must Be Distinct, Concrete and Identifiable
212
bb.
Fact Must not Differ in any Substantive Way from the Formulation of the Original Judgment
212
cc.
Fact Must not be Unclear or Misleading in the Context in Which It Is Placed in the Moving Party's Motion
213
dd.
Fact Must be Identified with Adequate Precision by the Moving Party
213
ee.
Fact Must not Contain Characterizations of an Essentially Legal Nature
213
ff.
Fact Must not be Based on an Agreement between the Parties to the Original Proceedings
214
gg.
Fact Must not Relate to the Acts, Conduct, or Mental State of the Accused
214
hh.
Fact Must not be Subject to Pending Appeal
215
c.
Overall-Test: Court's Discretion on Established Facts
216
3.
Open Questions
216
4.
Judicial Notice of Documentary Evidence
217
C.
ICTY Evidence Provided by Witnesses
219
D.
Statements by Expert Witnesses Made before the ICTY
220
IV.
Summary
220
Part 4: Plea Bargaining in War Crimes Trials
222
19.
Background on Plea Bargaining
222
I.
Definition of Plea Bargaining
224
II.
Benefits of Plea Bargaining
225
III.
Drawbacks of Plea Bargaining
226
IV.
Plea Bargaining before the ICTY
227
20.
Introduction into Plea Bargaining in BiH
229
I.
Overview of Plea Agreement Requirements
230
II.
Stages of Plea Bargaining
230
A.
Negotiations about Guilt Admission
231
B.
Signing of a Plea Agreement
233
C.
Acceptance or Dismissal of a Plea Agreement by the Court
234
D.
Right to Appeal
236
21.
Case Selection and Prioritization Criteria
237
I.
Gravity
239
A.
Mass Murder
240
B.
Systematic Violence
240
C.
Perpetrators' Status
241
II.
Public Interest
243
III.
Viability/feasability
244
IV.
Capacity
245
22.
Selected Procedural Aspects of Plea Agreements in War Crimes Cases
245
I.
Conclusion of Plea Agreements before Main Trial
245
II.
Plea Agreement Examination by the Preliminary Hearing Judge
246
III.
Elements of Plea Agreement Deliberations pursuant Article 231 (6) BiH CPC
248
IV.
"Enough Evidence" - Requirement
249
V.
Efficiency
250
A.
Case "Dugan Fugtar"
253
B.
Case "Pagko Ljubieie"
254
C.
Case leljko Mitrovie"
257
D.
Summary
257
VI.
Charge Bargaining
258
A.
Case "Dugan Fugtar"
260
B.
Case "Marie Zoran"
261
C.
Case "Pagko Ljubi6i6"
262
D.
Case "Vaso Todorovie"
263
E.
Summary
264
VII.
Excursus: Cooperation Clause
265
A.
Risks for the Accused
269
1.
Case "Damir Ivankovie
269
2.
Case "Gordan Durie"
271
B.
Lack of Appropriate Enforcement Mechanisms
272
C.
Additional Remarks
274
VIII.
Excursus: Presumption of Innocence
275
23.
Plea Agreements and Victims' Interest
278
I.
Victims' Property Claims in General
282
A.
Reimbursement of Damages
282
B.
Recovery of Items
285
C.
Annulment of a Particular Legal Transaction
285
D.
Course of Proceedings with regard to Property Claims in War Crimes Trials in General
285
E.
Reasons for the Reluctance to Solve Property Claims in War Crimes Trials
288
II.
Victims' Property Claims in Plea Agreements
289
III.
Victim-Witnesses and Plea Agreements
290
A.
Victims' Testimony in War Crimes Trials
291
1.
Obstacles to Have Witnesses Testify in Court
292
2.
Absence of Victim-Witnesses' Testimony in Plea Agreements
295
24.
Additional Remarks on Plea Bargaining in BiH
296
Final Remarks
299
Appendices
301
Bibliograpy
301
Table of Cases
318
A.
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia
318
B.
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda
321
C.
European Court of Human Rights
321
D.
German Supreme Court in Leipzig after World War 1
322
E.
National Courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina
322
Legal Materials
331
A.
Selected Bosnian and Herzegovinian Law
331
1.
BiH Criminal Procedure Code (BiH CPC)
331
2.
BiH Criminal Code (BiH CC)
360
3.
Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina
368
4.
Law on the Transfer of Cases from the ICTY to the Prosecutor's Office of BiH and the Use of Evidence Collected by ICTY in Proceedings before the Courts in BiH (Law on Transfer of Cases)
383
B.
Selected Provisions of the 1976 Criminal Code of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugaslavia (SFRY CC)
387
Other Relevant Materials
390
A.
Office of the High Representative
390
B.
UN Documents
391
1.
Security Council Resolutions
391
2.
United Nations Secretary-General (UN Secretary-General)
392
3.
United Nations General Assembly
392