25. The International Criminal Tribunals

Abstract

While the end of the Cold War may have contributed to the atmospheric conditions facilitating these developments, the changed attitude to international criminal justice owed much to evolution within the human rights movement. By the 1980s, a rights-based approach began to emerge that took the standpoint of victims of atrocities. There are now three ad hoc tribunals (International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL)) whose jurisdiction is limited geographically and temporally. The three existing ad hoc international criminal tribunals and the International Criminal Court have many common features. The international criminal tribunals have quickly established themselves as an important component of the international legal landscape. Their contribution to promotion of the rule of law in post-conflict societies is considered to be very significant. Keywords: international criminal court; international criminal tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR); international criminal tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY); international criminal tribunals; rights-based approach; special court for Sierra Leone (SCSL)