ABSTRACT
The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991 adopted its Rules of Procedure and Evidence on February 11, 1994. The office of prosecutor is an extremely important organ within the International Tribunal. The primary task of the war crimes investigator is the collection and preservation of physical evidence, identification of witnesses, and the collection of testimony that can be presented at trial and the identification of alleged perpetrators for indictment. Statements from witnesses, victims and persons involved in war crimes are particularly useful. Investigators should look for actual victims or eyewitnesses as well as second hand sources. The Statute and the Rules of Procedure and Evidence rely upon the principles of a fair trial that are already well established under international human rights law. One of these principles is the right to trial in public.
