Twenty-Five Years of Contemporary International Criminal Justice

Abstract

There is much to be said for the contention that 2019 marks the twenty-five years period of contemporary practice of international criminal justice. In 1994 the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY), which was established in 1993, became operational and in 1994 the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was set up. The creation of these two UN Tribunals has spurred unprecedented developments in respect of international criminal accountability in legislation and practice, at both the national and international level. Twenty-five years is a significant period of time and a good moment to look back and to look ahead. I will do so through the prism of the overarching and unwithering goal of international criminal justice: to end impunity for the most serious crimes known to mankind, and in doing so seek to ensure an optimal balance between efficiency and fairness. This paper reflects on two major issues and challenges for contemporary international criminal justice: the scope of criminal accountability and the nature and organization of the model of criminal procedure applied by international criminal tribunals.