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The Kosovo Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (KSC) is a new hybrid criminal tribunal that combines elements of both international and national law. Although being formally part of the judiciary of Kosovo, it has a seat in The Hague. Why was it established?

From 2011 onwards, the European Union strongly supported the establishment of a new hybrid tribunal that could investigate particular crimes that were allegedly committed or commenced on the territory of Kosovo.

After more than a year of preparations the court plans to move from provisional premises into its final building where the future proceedings should take place. The President of the KSC, Ekaterina Trendafilova, was very kind and shared her experiences and views with the Czech Centre for Human Rights and Democracy.

Každoroční zasedání Ministerské rady Organizace pro bezpečnost a spolupráci v Evropě se letos konalo začátkem prosince v Miláně, kde se sešli představitelé členských států, mezi něž patří i Česká republika, aby se vyjádřili jak k úspěchům na poli mezinárodní spolupráce, tak i k novým výzvám pro Evropu.

Připomínka hodnot OBSE

Italský ministr zahraničí Enzo Moavero Milanesi, který je rovněž předsedou Organizace pro bezpečnost a spolupráci v Evropě (dále jen OBSE) pro rok 2018, využil své zahajovací řeči na 25. shromáždění Ministerské rady, aby zdůraznil hodnoty míru, bezpečnosti a stability, které by 100 let po ukončení první světové války měly ideálně představovat základ evropského hodnotového rámce a být jasnou prioritou na poli mezinárodní spolupráce.

The term “crime of aggression” in international law determines, with a certain degree of simplification, the individual criminal responsibility of a person (for example a head of state) for ordering an armed attack against a foreign state. Including this crime in the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court in The Hague has been discussed for many years and in December 2017, the final decision was adopted that the crime of aggression would be included in the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court on the 17 July 2018, twenty years after the signing of its founding treaty – the Rome Statute.

In line with the changes, the judges amended the Regulations of the Court, which entered into force on 15 November 2018.

Next to genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, aggression became the fourth crime that the Court will be able to deal with. What does its legal regulation look like and for what kind of cases can we expect it to be used in reality?

Tip měsíce z Bulletinu

Evropská komise se rozhodla poslat Polsko před Soudní dvůr Evropské unie kvůli novele zákona o polském Nejvyšším soudu. Zákon podle Komise porušuje zásadu nezávislosti soudnictví. 

Nový polský zákon o Nejvyšším soudu z pera vládnoucí strany Právo a spravedlnost, který vstoupil v platnost v dubnu letošního roku, snižuje důchodový věk soudců ze 70 na 65 let. Více než třetina ze 72 soudců tak musí odejít do důchodu. Soudci, kterých se nařízení dotkne, sice mají možnost požádat prezidenta republiky o prodloužení funkčního období, pro rozhodnutí ale nejsou stanovena žádná kritéria a v případě odmítnutí není možný soudní přezkum. 

President Donald Trump invoked his national security power denying migrants asylum who enter the country illegally. Although Trump feels “we need people in our country but they have to come in legally,” the question must be asked how does this policy stand in regard to asylum law?

The point of the policy

Officials stated that the goal of the executive order was to bring asylum seekers into the country through legal measures at official border crossings and the policy more or less closes the door on asylum when migrants enter illegally. This is being done in an effort to secure national interest. One of the problems with this policy is the sheer number of border crossings, with many asylum seekers being informed at the crossings they must return another day to make their claim and sometimes requiring them to return to their home country in order to make their claim. This policy came to be in part due to the refugee caravan currently moving throughout Central America and Mexico towards the U.S. border, some of who have begun illegally crossing the border and subsequently been arrested.

When an international criminal tribunal in The Hague is mentioned, the majority of people think about the International Criminal Court. However, three other such courts are functioning in The Hague, one of them being the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. And as it applies national law, it is a very unique international tribunal. Why was it established? In what ways does it differ  from the other tribunals? The answers are brought by its President, Judge Ivana Hrdličková.

Madame President, as she is called at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, was a judge in the Czech Republic in both civil and criminal cases who, at the same time, focused her academic interests on Islamic law and human rights. She also served as an expert on the Council of Europe on money laundering and terrorist financing matters at the so-called Moneyval. She was appointed a judge at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon in 2012 and became its President in 2015. In February 2018 she was re-elected for a third term of eighteen months.

Medzinárodný trestný súd má jurisdikciu vo vzťahu k niektorým možným zločinom proti ľudskosti spáchaných na etnickej skupine Rohingov, napriek tomu že Mjanmarsko nie je signatárom Rímskeho štatútu Medzinárodného trestného súdu.

Úrad prokurátora Medzinárodného trestného súdu (MTS) požiadal súd o rozhodnutie o otázke, či MTS má jurisdikciu vyšetrovať možné zločiny proti ľudskosti, predovšetkým násilné vysťahovanie (deportation), vyše 725 tisíc Rohingov z Mjanmarska do Bangladéša, ku ktorému dochádza od augusta minulého roka.