High Representative Valentin Inzko met today in Sarajevo with the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) Carmel Agius. During the meeting, the High Representative expressed his great appreciation for the work of the ICTY.
“We must remember the key role the ICTY has played over the years in processing of war crimes and making sure that justice is delivered. Although the ICTY is set to close at the year’s end, the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals will stay to deal with the rest of the open ICTY cases and to preserve the impact that the international tribunal has had in developing international justice. The legacy of the ICTY is an essential contribution to international humanitarian law and justice, which also impacted greatly on the quality of war crimes adjudication in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Having a body of law and jurisprudence produced by the ICTY as a constant reference, we need to further ensure that the judicial institutions in Bosnia and Herzegovina are capable of dealing with war crimes independently and efficiently,” the High Representative said.