International Criminal Tribunal Yugoslavia, Legislation Enacted by Ten Different Nations on Judicial Assistance to the International Criminal Tribunal

In order to fulfil the obligations resulting from United Nations Security Council Resolution 827 (1993) and the Statute of the International Tribunal for War Crimes in the Former Yugoslavia, at least ten different nations enacted legislation. To the knowledge of the author, legislation is under preparation in Switzerland, Denmark, Australia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, Turkey, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Belgium. The Belgian draft draws the attention on to a problem not envisaged in the legislation of the ten nations mentioned below. These ten nations limit the legislation to assistance to the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia. The Belgian draft incorporates assistance to the Rwanda Tribunal on the same level as to the Yugoslavia Tribunal. The establishment of a Rwanda tribunal causes a problem for those countries which at present are unable to assist international tribunals. By passing legislation limited to the assistance to the Yugoslavia tribunal, they prevent themselves from using this legislation as a legal basis for assistance to the Rwanda tribunal and any other present or future international tribunal...(more)