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President Fausto Pocar

Judge Fausto Pocar
International Criminal Tribunal
for the former Yugoslavia

Biography Biography in PDF

Law of Armed Conflict
Contribution of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to the Development of International Humanitarian Law
The lecture provides a basic understanding of the significance of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the first international criminal jurisdiction after Nuremberg and Tokyo, for the development and consolidation of substantive and procedural rules applicable to trials of individuals accused of serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Video | Audio
(7/3/2008, 61 minutes)
Law of Armed Conflict
Contribution of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to the Development of International Humanitarian Law
A. Legal Instruments

Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907, especially Convention (IV): Respecting the Laws and Customs of War on Land, The Hague, 18 October 1907.

Charter of the International Military Tribunal, Annex to the Agreement for the prosecution and punishment of the major war criminals of the European Axis (“London Agreement”), London, 8 August 1945.

Charter of the United Nations and Statute of the International Court of Justice, San Francisco, 26 June 1945.

Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, Paris, 9 December 1948, United Nations,  Treaty Series, vol. 78, p. 277.

Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded and Sick in Armed Forces in the Field, Geneva, 12 August 1949, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, p. 31.

Geneva Convention for the Amelioration of the Condition of the Wounded, Sick and Shipwrecked Members of Armed Forces at Sea, Geneva, 12 August 1949, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, p. 85.

Geneva Convention relative to the Treatment of Prisoners of War, Geneva, 12 August 1949, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, p. 135.

Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War, Geneva, 12 August 1949, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 75, p. 287.

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the protection of victims of international armed conflicts (Protocol I), Geneva, 7 December 1978, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1125, p. 3.

Protocol Additional to the Geneva Conventions of 12 August 1949, and relating to the protection of victims of non-international armed conflicts (Protocol II), Geneva, 7 December 1978, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 1125, p. 609.

Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Report of the Secretary-General pursuant to paragraph 2 of Security Council resolution 808 (1993) (S/25704), 3 May 1993.

Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Security Council resolution 955 (1994) of 8 November 1994.

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court, Rome, 17 July 1998, United Nations, Treaty Series, vol. 2187, p. 3.

Statute of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, Freetown, 16 January 2002.

Agreement between the United Nations and the Royal Government of Cambodia concerning the prosecution under Cambodian law of crimes committed during the period of Democratic Kampuchea, Phnom Penh, 6 June 2003.

Security Council resolution 1757 (2007) of 30 May 2007 (Statute of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon).


B. Jurisprudence

International Military Tribunal, Judgment and Sentences, Nuremburg, 1 October 1946, reprinted in American Journal of International Law, vol. 41, 1946, p. 172.

International Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Tadić, Judgment of 15 July 1999, Appeals Chamber, IT-94-1-A.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Zlatko Aleksovski, Judgment of 24 March 2000, Appeals Chamber, IT-95-14/1-A.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Goran Jelisić, Judgment of 5 July 2001, Appeals Chamber, IT-95-10-A.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Kupreškić et al.,Judgment of 23 October 2001, Appeals Chamber, IT-95-16-A.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Goran Jelisić, Judgment of 5 December 2003, Trial Chamber I, IT-98-29-T.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Milorad Krnojelac, Judgment of 17 December 2003, Appeals Chamber, IT-97-25-A.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Radislav Krstić, Judgment of 19 April 2004, Appeals Chamber, IT-98-33-A.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Tihomir Blaškić, Judgment of 29 July 2004, Appeals Chamber, IT-95-14-A.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Kvočka et al., Judgment of 25 February 2005, Appeals Chamber, IT-98-30/1-A.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Milomir Stakić, Judgment of 22 March 2006, Appeals Chamber, IT-97-24-A.

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor v. Goran Jelisić, Judgment of 30 November 2006, Appeals Chamber, IT-98-29-A.

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Prosecutor v. Radoslav Brđanin, Judgment of 3 April 2007, Appeals Chamber, IT-99-36-A.

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, Prosecutor v. Ferdinand Nahimana, Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza and Hassan Ngeze, Judgment of 28 November 2007, Appeals Chamber, ICTR-99-52-A.


C. Documents

Security Council resolution 808 (1993) of 22 February 1993.

Security Council resolution 827 (1993) of 25 May 1993.

Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, The Hague, 11 February 1994.

Security Council resolution 1272 (1999) of 25 October 1999.

United Nations Transitional Administration in East Timor Regulation 2001/25.

Security Council resolution 1503 (2003) of 28 August 2003.

Security Council resolution 1534 (2004) of 26 March 2004.


D. Doctrine

T. Meron, “Reflections on the Prosecution of War Crimes by International Tribunals”, American Journal of International Law, vol. 100, 2006, p. 551.

T. Meron, “The Continuing Role of Custom in the Formation of International Humanitarian Law”, 1996, p. 238.

F. Pocar, “Persecution as a Crime under International Criminal Law”, Journal of National Security Law and Policy, vol. 2, 2008, p. 355.

F. Pocar, “The Proliferation of International Criminal Courts and Tribunals”, Journal of International Criminal Justice, vol. 2, 2004, p. 304.