Hybrid Tribunals as a Valid Alternative to International Tribunals for the Prosecution of International Crimes

Abstract

In this paper, the author examines the possibility of hybrid tribunals as an alternative procedure for the prosecution of international crimes. The paper seeks to answer three questions – can hybrid trials successfully fully replace international tribunals in order to bring perpetrators of international crimes to justice? Do hybrid tribunals better fulfil the expectations of transitional justice than ad hoc tribunals, the International Criminal Court or truth and reconciliation commissions? Do hybrid tribunals represent the building blocks of a new, just world order or are they subject to the same imperfections? The paper surveys the problems related to truth and reconciliation commissions and international tribunals from the military trials at Nuremberg to the creation of the permanent International Criminal Court. It then looks in particular at hybrid tribunals, discussing their conceptual advantages and disadvantages compared to purely international mechanisms. The author concludes that a hybrid tribunal as a model for the enforcement of international criminal law is not necessarily flawed, but may only operate successfully if there is active international support and a genuine will to facilitate the process of reconciliation in society.

Keywords: hybrid, tribunals, international, crimes, human, rights, human rights, nuremberg, ICC, prosecution, war crimes