Time for eULeX To prioriTize war crimes - Amnesty International ...

time by the Law on the Prosecutor's Office of BiH 170
Kosovo: Time for EULEX to prioritize war crimes 59
Since its creation, the WCC has included both domestic and international judges and
prosecutors. The establishment of the WCC, comprising both international and national
judges and prosecutors in its first five years, later extended for a further two years, was
planned to gradually transform from a so-called ‘hybrid’ institution, with both international
and domestic staff, into a fully national court (without international judges and prosecutors) .
A detailed plan to gradually transition from this "hybrid" model to fully domestic institutions
is due to be fully implemented by the end of 2012.The WCC adjudicates on cases of war
crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, set out in the BiH Criminal Code which
entered into force in 2003. Proceedings for war crimes also take place in cantonal and other
lower courts in the two entities of BiH.
In Croatia, the 2003 Act on the Application of the Statute of the International Criminal
Tribunal and on the Prosecution of Criminal Offences against International Military and
Humanitarian Law 171 mandated the establishment of special war crimes chambers in four
county courts in Croatia. The act aimed, through these chambers, to try war crimes cases
outside of the communities where those crimes were committed, and decrease pressure on
witnesses in war crimes proceedings. The law envisaged that war crimes cases could be
transferred from the jurisdiction of county courts to the special war crimes chambers upon a
request by the Chief State Prosecutor, subject to the approval by the President of the
Supreme Court. In May 2011 the Parliament adopted an amendment to the law which
allowed for the use of evidence collected by the Tribunal by the Croatian judiciary.
In Montenegro, the Department for the Suppression of Organised Crime, Corruption,
Terrorism and War Crimes was established within the Supreme State Prosecution Office in
2008, headed by a Special Prosecutor, and five deputies. At the same time, specialised
departments dealing with organised crime, corruption, terrorism and war crimes – comprising
eight specialised judges and three investigation judges – were established within the
Podgorica and Bijelo Polje Superior Courts in 2008. 172 Proceedings, including appeals, are
ongoing in four cases of crimes against international law.
The Criminal Code of Montenegro was amended in 2003, and introduced two new offences of
crimes against humanity (Article 427) and the failure to take measures to prevent crimes
against humanity and other values protected under international law (Article 440), which
includes command responsibility as a separate offence. Amendments were introduced on the
basis that both crimes were prohibited, “pursuant to ratified international treaties during the
conflicts in the 1990s”.
Serbia’s Special War Crimes Chamber at the Belgrade District Court and the Office of the War
Crimes Prosecutor of the Republic of Serbia were established with exclusive responsibility for
crimes against international law, and as a wholly domestic institution, under the Law on
Organization and Jurisdiction of Government Authorities in Prosecuting Perpetrators of War
Crimes, adopted in July 2003. 173 The War Crimes Chamber was set up in October 2003, and
the OWCP became operational in January 2004. Prosecutions opened in 2004 and as of 10
February 2012 proceedings in some 26 war crimes cases have been conducted, including
decisions related to Kosovo. With only one court dedicated to war crimes proceedings, and
with insufficient staff in the OWCP, and a lack of political support for the institutions,
Index: EUR 70/004/2012 Amnesty International April 2012