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JUDGING AND PUNISHING AT THE INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL TRIBUNAL FOR THE FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
The development of fair and impartial criteria for judging those accused of international crimes is one of the most critical issues facing the international community and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Are the resources, experience, and moral force so weighted in favor of the international community that the accused cannot obtain a fair contest? Are international criminal trials legalistic exercises that cloak a victor's justice, or do such courts premise their decisions on fair criteria? Data on ICTY verdicts and punishment of convicted war criminals show that the ICTY judges follow a "legal" model and that punishment is based primarily on the gravity of the crimes committed and the defendant's level of responsibility in the political and military chain of command. Political factors largely do not explain verdicts or sentences.
Keywords: International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia; conflict resolution; international law; victor's justice
For an individual who stands accused of criminal behavior in an ordinary court of law facing the full power and prestige of government, the difference in status between the opposing parties is often considerable. For an individual who stands accused before an international criminal tribunal backed by the authority and judgment of the entire international community, the disparity between the parties is epic. International criminal law has assumed increased prominence with the creation of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and, later, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). These were the first international criminal tribunals established since the Nuremberg and Tokyo tribunals of World War 11, and they have faced a great number of political and legal challenges in establishing their legitimacy. Of critical importance to the ICTY and international criminal law in general is the development of impartial criteria for judging those accused of international crimes. We must wonder if, in this great contest, the resources, experience, and moral force are so heavily weighted in favor of the international community that the individual cannot obtain a fair contest. Are international criminal trials legalistic exercises that cloak a victor's justice, or can such courts reach decisions that are fair and impartial?
There is widespread agreement that the verdicts and...