David Tolbert Speaks at The Fletcher School: Launches Newest Issue
of The Fletcher Forum
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The Fletcher Forum of World Affairs formally launched its newest
issue on Wednesday and commemorated the occasion by inviting David
Tolbert to The Fletcher School. The Forum’s latest issue features an
article by Mr. Tolbert titled “The International Criminal Tribunal for
the Former Yugoslavia: Unforeseen Successes and Foreseeable
Shortcomings.”
Mr. Tolbert, Executive Director of the Central and East European Law Initiative and former Chef de Cabinet to the ICTY President, gave a talk about the success and failure of the ICTY. As students ate hot pizza and sipped soda, Tolbert spoke about the ICTY’s rapid maturation into a respected international institution and its revolutionary legal judgments concerning gender and command responsibility. Although the ICTY has won grudging admiration for its work, Tolbert was keen to point out that the tribunal has failed to promote reconciliation in war-torn Yugoslavia and involve local judicial systems. According to Tolbert, the architects of the ICTY should have realized that it would be impossible to put on trial at The Hague all of the principal persons who committed war crimes in Yugoslavia. Instead, he reasoned, the ICTY should have been charged with the additional task of strengthening local court systems to try war criminals. “There should have been a provision in place to leverage the tribunal’s expertise,” said Tolbert. “The cadre of professional judges and prosecutors in The Hague should have helped train their counterparts in Yugoslavia.” Had this occurred, in Tolbert’s judgment, the ICTY would have had a stronger impact on Yugoslavia. Currently, most people in Yugoslavia do not understand the tribunal’s procedures or work. “The ICTY is disengaged from the region,” said Tolbert. In an effort to bridge the gap between the ICTY and the people of Yugoslavia, Tolbert pushed for the creation of an outreach program in 1999 to explain the tribunal’s work and mission. But due to lack of funding, this program fizzled. Hopefully, the ICTY’s shortcomings will serve as lessons from which the newly established International Criminal Court can learn, said Tolbert. To learn more about the evolving architecture of international law, be sure to pick up the latest issue of The Fletcher Forum, which is available for purchase. Please make check or money order payable in the amount of $10 to “The Fletcher Forum” and mail to the address below:
The Fletcher Forum |