The place and role of the International Criminal jurisdictions in relation to National Domestic courts with regard to the principles of primacy and complementarity

Abstract

The end of the Cold War 16 years ago marked a major shift in the development of international law. The need to address the ever-increasing culture of impunity and prevent future commission of atrocities made the international community to establish international criminal tribunals to try those responsible for the international crimes. The establishment of the international criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) in 1993 by the Security Council marked the beginning of the establishment of these tribunals. The international Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) was established a year later to try those responsible for the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. However, the mandate of these tribunals was confined to the crimes that took place in the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda; they lacked the capacity to deal with other emerging cases of impunity elsewhere. This called for the establishment of a permanent international criminal court. This was ultimately achieved in 1998 when the statute of permanent international criminal tribunals, other ‘hybrid’ tribunals have been created to deal with specific country conflicts. The most prominent in this category is the Special Court for Serra Leone( SCSL), which was established in 2002.