NAME OF MECHANISM

International Criminal Tribunal of the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) http://www.un.org/icty/latest-e/index.htm

YEARS OF OPERATION

May 25, 1993-2009 (with appeals by 2010)

MANDATE AND OPERATIONS

Mandate: Established by the UN to prosecute military and political leaders responsible for Balkan atrocities since 1 January 1991 (1992-1995) located in Croatia, Bosnia & Serbia.

Structure: Three branches,:

(1) Chambers, 16 permanent judges with 3 trial chambers and one for appeals, hears cases of accused perpetrators, 

(2) Registry, responsible for administrative duties, and
(3) Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), independent body responsible for the investigation and prosecution of cases.

Staff: 1,238 total staff from 84 countries as of January 2004

Budget: Total budget up until the end 2007 - $1,242,683,622. Proposed budget for 2008-2009 $115,929,200 which would bring the overall budget to $1,358,612,822.

LATEST UPDATE

January 2008: To date, the ICTY has indicted 161. Of these, the trials and appeals of 109 have been completed, 7 cases involving 8 accused are pending appeal, 7 trials involving 26 people are on-going, 12 suspects are awaiting trial and 4 remain at large. These include Radovan Karadžić and Ratko Mladić, thought to have played a major role in the Srebrenica massacre in 1995.

The ICTY instituted a process of plea-bargaining in December 2003 in order to clear out backlog. The sudden death of Slobodan Milosovic resulted in an incomplete end to his historic trial.

A range of concrete measures have recently been implemented by the Judges in order to improve the efficiency of trials. It was estimated that with the schedule as it was, the trials at the Tribunal should conclude in 2009. [ICTY briefing to UN, June 2006]