Jus de non evocando

Notion(s) Filing Case
Interlocutory Decision on Jurisdiction - 02.10.1995 TADIĆ Duško
(IT-94-1-AR72)

61. Appellant argues that he has a right to be tried by his national courts under his national laws. […] Does it prevent Appellant from being tried […] before an international tribunal? […]

62. As a matter of fact - and of law - the principle advocated by Appellant aims at one very specific goal: to avoid the creation of special or extraordinary courts designed to try political offences in times of social unrest without guarantees of a fair trial.

This principle is not breached by the transfer of jurisdiction to an international tribunal created by the Security Council acting on behalf of the community of nations. No rights of accused are thereby infringed or threatened; quite to the contrary, they are all specifically spelt out and protected under the Statute of the International Tribunal. No accused can complain. True, he will be removed from his "natural" national forum; but he will be brought before a tribunal at least equally fair, more distanced from the facts of the case and taking a broader view of the matter. […]

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