The Independence Of International Judges In National Courts: Lessons From Bosnia And Herzegovina

Abstract

International judges experience special pressures, especially when sitting in national courts, not least because they are likely to be working in fractured societies struggling to recover from war, invasion, genocide or insurrection. When sitting in international tribunals, judges derive their authority from international law and owe their first allegiance to it. The only differences of status between national and international judges are that only national judges are eligible to be President of the Court, and the state has offered diplomatic status to the international judges when within Bosna i Hercegovina, (BiH). The high representative (HR's) claim that, as an international agency with UN backing and powers derived exclusively from international law, he is not subject to the jurisdiction of national tribunals has given rise to tension with the Court in cases where the HR has intervened with people's legal and constitutional rights. Keywords: Bosna i Hercegovina (BiH); international judges; national courts