The Application of Joint Criminal Enterprise to Complex Top Political Leadership Cases Upheld: The Krajišnik Appeal Judgment

André Klip and Steven Freeland (eds), Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals - Volume 48: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia 2009 (Cambridge/Antwerp/Portland, Intersentia, 2016), pp. 438-449

21 Pages Posted: 24 Nov 2015 Last revised: 17 Sep 2016

See all articles by Manuel J. Ventura

Manuel J. Ventura

Western Sydney University, School of Law; The Peace and Justice Initiative

Date Written: November 1, 2015

Abstract

In Krajišnik, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (“ICTY”) Appeals Chamber reviewed the application of the ICTY’s leading theory for the attribution of crimes to multiple co-perpetrators – joint criminal enterprise (“JCE”) – to the highest ranking defendant then under its custody in the most complex and widespread factual circumstances that had reached the appellate stage at that time. This paper places the Krajišnik Appeal Judgment within the ICTY’s then broader JCE jurisprudence and controversy, in particular the schism that emerged between the Krajišnik Trial Judgment and the Brđanin Trial Judgment which came to opposing conclusions regarding the applicability of JCE to complex top political leadership cases. It submits that the Krajišnik Appeal Judgment served to consolidate and build upon the base provided by the Brđanin Appeal Judgment, in particular the requirement to demonstrate – in some detail – the links between the physical perpetrators and the JCE members. In so doing, the ICTY confirmed the application of JCE to complex and large-scale atrocity cases where the top leadership was unlikely to have had any direct contact with the physical perpetrators on the ground, paving the way for future ICTY cases of this nature.

Keywords: joint criminal enterprise, JCE, International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, Krajišnik, Tadić, Brđanin, leadership cases

JEL Classification: K14, K33, K41

Suggested Citation

Ventura, Manuel J., The Application of Joint Criminal Enterprise to Complex Top Political Leadership Cases Upheld: The Krajišnik Appeal Judgment (November 1, 2015). André Klip and Steven Freeland (eds), Annotated Leading Cases of International Criminal Tribunals - Volume 48: International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia 2009 (Cambridge/Antwerp/Portland, Intersentia, 2016), pp. 438-449, Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=2694433

Manuel J. Ventura (Contact Author)

Western Sydney University, School of Law ( email )

Locked Bag 1797
Penrith, NSW 2751
Australia

HOME PAGE: http://www.westernsydney.edu.au/staff_profiles/uws_profiles/mr_manuel_ventura

The Peace and Justice Initiative ( email )

The Hague
Netherlands

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