As 2011 comes to a close, we reflect on the highlights of international justice: the ICTY welcoming its last fugitives - and the STL carving a new definition of terrorism. But the ICC is the one to watch...
We asked prominent legal experts what they thought were the most significant developments in international justice during the past year. We also asked them to look ahead and tell us what they think will be 'big ones' on next year’s docket.

By Lauren Comiteau in Hilversum

Andras Riedlmayer, editor of International Justice Watch

2011: Looking back...
The arrest and handover to the ICTY of its last two indictees--Bosnian Serb General Ratko Mladic and former Croatian Serb leader Goran Hadzic. It marks the successful conclusion of the Tribunal’s quest for getting indictees in custody and putting them on trial. It’s not something anyone expected when the Tribunal was established. It’s a noticeable success.

2012: Looking ahead...
The ICC is the one to watch in the coming year. There’s a new prosecutor. It’s getting increasingly more active. But it remains to be seen how effective it will be—it has yet to conclude its first case.
 

William R. Pace, Convenor, Coalition for the International Criminal Court

2011: Looking back...
UN Security Council Resolution 1970 (and then 1973). The 15-0 vote in favour of the resolution demanded the Libyan government protect civilians from crimes against humanity and adopted a range of sanctions, including referring the crimes being committed in Libya to the ICC. This decision was historic on a number of levels: the unanimity, how quickly it was done, utilization of the framework and norm of 'responsibility to protect', the roles of the Human Rights Council, the Arab League [and] the UN Libyan mission.... If in this relatively new century, these elements and principles were applied by the international community in other war and conflict situations, the 21st century will not repeat the 20th century as the most violent and war-ridden in all history.

[Also,] the Tunisia-inspired Arab Spring may be seen in history as one of the most important developments for peace and democracy in the last 100 years. And one of the most important decisions of the interim reform government was to ratify the Rome Statute of the ICC.

2012: Looking ahead...
This week, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) elected a new ICC prosecutor, ASP President, two vice-presidents, six judges, a new ASP Bureau and Committee on Budget and Finance, resulting in the most significant change in ICC leadership and the Rome Statute since the Court’s establishment. Yet it is imperative that the advances achieved in 2011 are built upon. It is equally important for the newly elected ICC leadership to be provided with the political support and financial resources needed to effectively carry out its duties.

Nick Kaufman, defense counsel (for ICC defendants and others worldwide)

2011: Looking back...
In a year which witnessed many historic moments for international justice, one sad event stood out. On 21 October 2011, the former President of the ICTY and STL and the undisputed doyen of international criminal law--Antonio Cassese--passed away. He was an outstanding jurist whose legacy will be felt for many years to come. He presided, inter alia, over the International Commission of Inquiry on Darfur, initiating the genocide controversy which will take centre stage should Omar al-Bashir of Sudan ever be arrested and surrendered to the ICC.

2012: Looking ahead...
In the year to come, I look forward to the decision on whether trials in absentia will be held for the four indictees at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. While undoubtedly permissible under the provisions of the founding statute, the matter is a novel concept in modern international justice and will undoubtedly raise interesting ethical dilemmas for defense counsel deprived of contact with the persons they have been assigned to represent.

Benjamin B. Ferencz, former Nuremberg prosecutor

2010: Looking (a little further) back...                                                                                              The most significant event in international justice was the conference in Kampala in June 2010 to review the Statute of the International Criminal Court. Aggression was finally defined by consensus, but the court was still not given authority to exercise its jurisdiction over what Nuremberg tribunals condemned as "the supreme international crime”. The topic was again deferred until some indefinite date after 2017.

2012: Looking ahead...
My hope is that next year's docket will include recognition that the present impunity that prevents trial by the ICC of leaders responsible for aggression will be lifted by holding them punishable for crimes against humanity under criminal codes of a growing number of peace-loving nations.

Editor’s picks

2011: Looking back...
In July, an appeals court in The Hague ruled that the Dutch state was responsible for the deaths of three Bosnian Muslims who were forced off the Dutch base in Srebrenica in July 1995 and handed over to the Bosnian Serb army. The Dutch state had always argued that because its troops were serving under the auspices of the U.N. during the Bosnian war, the Netherlands could not be held responsible for its actions. "It's the first time, I believe, that a state is being held accountable during a peacekeeping operation where things went wrong," said Liesbeth Zegveld, a lawyer for one of the defendants.

The ruling could have far-reaching implications for other countries that may be wary of committing troops to peacekeeping operations in which they could ultimately be held responsible for their actions.

2012: Looking ahead...
January marks the tenth anniversary since Guantanamo Bay prison opened. With several related cases pending before US courts and an election year for President Barack Obama—who pledged to close the prison during his first presidential campaign—the issues surrounding the camp are bound to be high on both the political and judicial agendas.