ABSTRACT
The principle of sovereignty and states' assertion of exclusive competence over criminal matters dominate the international scene. Despite the fact that the post-World War II period has witnessed numerous armed conflicts characterized by extreme examples of violations of relevant obligatory international norms, the community of nations is not likely soon to agree to a binding convention ceding jurisdiction to an international criminal regime. An important division along nationalistic lines also emerged between Orthodox Christian Serbs and Catholic Croats— the East and the West. This conflict plagued the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenians and, later, Yugoslavia. The establishment of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia attracted special attention not only among political and academic circles throughout the territory of the former Yugoslavia but also among the public in general. This was particularly true in Yugoslavia because the discussions surrounding the creation of such a court were focused almost entirely on crimes allegedly committed by Serbs and their leadership.
