A REVIEW OF PROCESSING WAR CRIME CASES OF "A" CATEGORY IN BOSNIA AND HERZEGOVINA JUDICIARY

Abstract

UDK: 341.322.5:342.56(497.6)
UDK: 28-29

The establishment of the court of Bosnia and Herzegovina in the year 2002, and later of its Department for War Crimes in 2005, represent significant leap towards processing of the war crimes cases committed during the war (1992-1995) in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Until December 2022, a total number of 256 such cases were effectively finalized. The cases of the so-called “A” category Rules of the Road procedure, drew the particular attention of the experts as well as that of the public. Namely, in February 1996, representatives of Serbia, Croatia, and B&H signed the Rome Statement declaring the Common Civil Commission for Sarajevo. Article 5 of the Statement demands that persons may be arrested or prosecuted only pursuant to a previously issued order, warrant, or indictment that has been reviewed by the International Tribunal for ex-Yugoslavia (ICTY). These control mechanisms (better known as the Rules of the Road) were active until 2004, when ICTY, as a part of its completion strategy, delegated this right to the Prosecution Office of Bosnia and Herzegovina. This article presents a brief review of the processed cases along with problems that occurred during the trials as well as a review of the current situation in this field.