Jurisprudence of the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

Case Note: Prosecutor v. Delalic, Mucic, Delic & Landzo
(Part I)

Faiza Patel King* and Anne-Marie La Rosa**

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Introduction

Prosecutor v. Delalic, Mucic, Delic and Landzo (`Celebici') is one of the most complicated cases to be brought before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (`Tribunal'). It involved the joint trial of four defendants (three Bosnian Muslims and one Bosnian Croat) who were charged with 49 counts covering grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions and/or violations of the laws and customs of war for killing, torturing and sexually assaulting detainees in a prison camp in central Bosnia, known as the Celebici camp.¹

The Celebici case was a particularly difficult joint trial because the four accused occupied very different positions: Landzo was a camp guard, Mucic was the camp commander, Delic was the camp's deputy commander (who took over from Mucic as commander) and Delalic was the coordinator of the Bosnian Muslim and Bosnian Croat forces in the area and later a commander in the Bosnian Army. Delalic, Mucic and Delic were charged with command responsibility and Delic and Landzo were charged with individual responsibility. In light of their different positions and the charges against them, it was foreseeable that problems relating to contradictory defence strategies and the protection of each defendant's right to a fair trial would be raised.

The accused were arrested and transferred to the Hague between March and June 1996;² they all pleaded not guilty to the charges against them. Their trial started on 10 March 1997 and came to a close on 15 October 1998. Over 1,500 exhibits were admitted into evidence during the trial and the transcript of the proceedings ran to more than 16,000 pages in the English version.³ The final Judgement was rendered on 16 November 1998. Mucic, the commander of the Celebici camp, was found guilty of command responsibility for, inter alia, murders, acts of torture and ill treatment. Delic and Landzo were found guilty of individual criminal responsibility for, among other things, wilful killings, torture and cruel treatment. One defendant, Delalic, was found not guilty on all counts because the Prosecutor failed to establish command responsibility.

Prior to and during the trial, the Trial Chamber issued a number of interlocutory decisions addressing significant issues. These decisions are the focus of Part 1 of this case note. The substantive aspects of the Celebici Judgment will be discussed in a forthcoming Part 2 of this case note.

* Legal Officer, Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons. Member of the New York and Washington. D.C. bars.

** Legal Officer; International Labour Office. Member of the Quebec bar.

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The views expressed herewith are those of the authors in their personal capacities and do not necessarily represent those of any organizations with which they are or were affiliated.

¹ Indictment, Prosecutor v. Delalic, Mucic, Delic and Landzo (hereinafter Celebici), Case No. IT-96-21-I (21 March 1996). Four of the 49 counts (9, 10, 40 and 41) were subsequently withdrawn at the request of the Prosecution, being allegedly based on false evidence: Celebici, Case No. IT-96-21-T, Order on Prosecution's Motion to Withdraw counts 9 and 10 of the Indictment (21 April 1997) and , Celebici, Case No. IT-96-21-T, Order on Prosecution's motion to Dismiss Counts 40 and 41 (16 January 1998).

² Delalic was apprehended on 18 March 1996 by German police at the Tribunal's request. He was remanded into custody on 8 May 1996 and made his first appearance before Trial Chamber II on 9 May 1996. Mucic was arrested by Austrian authorities also on 18 March 1996 and surrendered to the custody of the Tribunal on 9 April 1996. He appeared for the first time before Trial Chamber II on 11 April 1996. Finally, Delic and Landzo were both apprehended by Bosnia following a warrant of arrest issued by the Tribunal on 22 May 1996 and were transferred to The Hague where they made their first appearance before the Chamber on 18 June 1996.

³ Celebici, Case No. IT-96-21-T, Judgment, reg. pg. nos. 10636-10146 (16 Nov. 1998) at ¶ 33.

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