ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses the relevant portions of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) statute regarding prosecutable offences and judicial decision-making. It analyzes the impact of the general categories of crimes and the specific criminal offences on sentences handed down to date by the ICTY. The chapter summarizes the results and assesses their meaning in light of the Tribunal’s mission to ‘do justice’ for victims and the accused. Given the systemic and heinous nature of the atrocities committed during the conflicts in the former Yugoslavia, people must wonder how the judges find punishments that are both proportionate to the crimes committed and based on the unique circumstances of each convicted person. The ICTY, established in 1993, is authorized to investigate and prosecute specific violations of international laws occurring in the former Yugoslavia since 1991. The violations of human rights during the Balkan wars were political and systemic, as well as vicious and personal.
