OSCE rights body, ICTY launch capacity-building project in former Yugoslavia

VIENNA, 28 May 2008 - The President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Judge Fausto Pocar, and the Director of the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights (ODIHR), Ambassador Christian Strohal, signed an agreement today on enhancing support for the national justice authorities in the former Yugoslavia.

In consultation with domestic jurisdictions, the joint project will identify best practices developed by the Tribunal, the OSCE and other partners in providing assistance to courts, judges, prosecutors and other professionals in the justice system. The project will seek to learn lessons on how to best build and strengthen domestic capacity to hold war crimes trials fairly and efficiently.

"The OSCE, through its field operations and the ODIHR, has extensive experience in promoting the rule of law by ensuring accountability for war crimes through domestic jurisdictions," said Strohal.

"This joint project will enable us to identify lessons learned and best practices, which will benefit the OSCE's future activities in this field and could serve as a model of capacity-building and knowledge transfer for other regions and organizations."

President Pocar sees the preservation of the Tribunal's legacy and its pioneering efforts in the development of international human rights law and practices as a key part of the Tribunal's completion strategy.

The agreement signed in Vienna today is part of range of projects aimed at preserving the legacy of the Tribunal, which is due to end its work in 2010. The OSCE, a main actor in promoting rule of law reform in the former Yugoslavia, is a key partner in the Tribunal's efforts to share knowledge and experiences with counterparts in the domestic jurisdictions.

The capacity-building and knowledge transfer project will be carried out in cooperation with the UN Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute.