International Criminal Justice and the Politics of Transition in Croatia (original) (raw)
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Law & Social Inquiry, 2006
This article develops a conflict approach for studying the field of international criminal law. Focusing on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, we draw on Burawoy's (2003 ) elaboration of reflexive ethnography to determine how external political changes affect the work of an international legal institution. We explore how political frameworks of legal liberalism, ad hoc legalism, and legal exceptionalism result in internal office, organizational, and normative changes within this Tribunal, thereby linking national political transformations with the construction of the global. Drawing on rolling field interviews and a two-wave panel survey, we conclude that the claims to universals that underwrite transnational legal fields cannot be understood solely through an analysis of external political forces, but must be combined with attention to how these are refracted through internal organizational change within international institutions.
Journal of International …, 2008
This paper explores the interconnections between the activities of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), their domestic perception in Serbia, and the effects of these perceptions on the recent evolution of Serbian politics. It argues that negative perceptions of the Tribunal have impacted upon domestic power balances by bolstering support for anti-reform forces and undermining the strength of the liberal democratic movement. The result is a destabilization of Serbia’s liberal democratic transition. The paper aims to develop an understanding of how and why these destabilizing effects can take place. It argues that the ICTY’s discursive linkage not to the norms of reconciliation or justice but, rather, to the experience of conditionality and the threat of international isolation has provided fertile grounds for anti-reformist revivals. It is this perceived international context that renders the experience of international transitional justice in Serbia, all too often, not one of prosecution but one of persecution.
Serbian perception of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia - CEAS Congreso
Development This text explores the relationship between the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and Serbia. The development of the activity of the ICTY has been in parallel with the recent history of Serbia. The relation between Serbia and the ICTY has been controversial since its inception. This article concludes that Serbian political activity has been impacted by the ICTY, considered by the Serbian public opinion as a political organ rather than a judicial body. The main political leaders were expelled from the government, but the way they were banned from the Serbian institutions increases the level of nationalistic identification. The ICTY has acted politically in order to achieve its statutory objectives, sacrificing its credibility as a judicial institution.
Shrinking the Space for Denial: The Impact of the ICTY in Serbia
2008
This groundbreaking report published by the Open Society Justice Initiative examines the impact in Serbia of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Shrinking the Space for Denial: The Impact of the ICTY in Serbia is the most comprehensive analysis to date of the court's impact in a country directly affected by its work. The report by Diane Orentlicher, professor of international law at American University's Washington College of Law and special counsel to the Justice Initiative, is published in conjunction with the 15th anniversary of the ICTY's founding. The 134-page report provides a detailed look at the ICTY's role and challenges in: dispelling the impunity of Serbians accused of playing a key role in atrocities committed in the Balkan wars of the 1990s; contributing to Serbian society's progress in acknowledging and condemning Serbian leaders' and institutions' role in those atrocities; and strengthening the rule of law ...
As the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) proceeds through its ninth and most visible year of existence, it is now possible to look back at its work to date and begin to assess its potential legacy. The record is mixed. On the one hand, the ICTY's achievements have exceeded the boldest hopes of its creators. However, in several important respects, it has failed to make a difference in the region itself. With the arrest of former Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic and his subsequent transfer for trial to The Hague by the Serbian authorities, the ICTY suddenly achieved a level of credibility previously unforeseen. In a few short months, Milosevic went from the pinnacle of power in Serbia and the leading role in the unfolding tragedy in the former Yugoslavia to that of the accused in the dock, from regional kingpin to a solitary accused, facing the most serious criminal charges under international law.
Revue d’études comparatives Est-Ouest, vol. 45, n. 3-4, 2014
The impact of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) on target states has been primarily assessed in terms of the Court's contribution to peace and reconciliation in the region. In contrast, this article explores the effects of ICTY conditionality on democratic consolidation in Serbia. It posits that the enforcement of international standards of accountability on recalcitrant states may hinder democratic stability and undermine the goals of transitional justice in the target countries. In the context of a fragile and uncertain transition, the Serbian authorities had to balance the demands and priorities of the ICTY with those of competing domestic groups. By examining the politics of state cooperation with the ICTY in Serbia, this article sheds light on the conflicting effects of the policies of conditionality and shows how the outcomes of externalized justice are affected by domestic political developments.
International Criminal Tribunals and the Perception of Justice: The Effect of the ICTY in Croatia
This article examines the impact of international criminal tribunals (ICTs) on the perception of justice. From the legal perspective, the perception of ICTs as just partly stems from their impartiality in dealing with perpetrators of different nationalities/ethnicities. In contrast, social identity theory suggests that the perception of ICTs as just is determined by the group membership, as people tend to pass more lenient judgments on perpetrators from their in-group. In order to resolve this dilemma, we developed an experimental vignette that manipulated international versus national courts, in-group versus out-group perpetrators and a jail sentence versus no jail sentence. The vignette was embedded in a representative survey conducted in Croatia in 2008 and combines with a natural experiment on the Radovan Karadžicárrest. The findings reveal biased perceptions of justice, conditional support for the ICTY, the dual impact of deterrent effect and the positive effect of the apprehension of war criminals. Keywords: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, perceptions of justice, social identity theory, apprehension of war criminals, deterrent effect, Croatia The much-hoped-for beneficial impact of ICTY trials on persons and groups living in the former Yugoslavia is meagre and tardy. In some cases, as, for example, the Miloševic´trial, proceedings are even having an adverse effect on and are ultimately rekindling nationalism and ethnic animosity. —Antonio Cassese 2 Since the establishment of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) two decades ago, international criminal tribunals (ICTs) have become prominent methods of pursuing postconflict justice. Undoubtedly, several ad hoc tribunals and the International Criminal Court (ICC) attest to the growing expectations of international justice. But, perhaps owing to their relative