Balkan Wars

As the Balkan states were engulfed by war surrounding the dissolution of the Yugoslavian federation in the early 1990s, wars of independence overlapped with ethnic conflicts, taking a terrible toll on civilian injuries and deaths, including the genocide of Bosniaks at Srebrenica in 1995. From the early 2000s, Bosnian and other civilians sought recognition and reparations before national domestic and foreign courts, the UN’s Human Rights Council, and the European Court of Human Rights.

Legal Instruments

2019 | Guidelines for handling compensation claims in criminal proceedings in Serbia

2013 | Transitional Justice Strategy by the BiH Council of Ministers

2012 | 2008-12 Justice Sector Reform Strategy BiH

2010 | Roos et al., Commentary on the Constitution of Bosnia and Herzegovina

2010 | 2010 Law on Gender Equality – Federation of BiH

2008 | 2008 Bosnian National War Crimes Strategy, December 2008

2003 | Criminal Procedure Code for Bosnia and Herzegovina

2003 | Criminal Code for Bosnia and Herzegovina

1995 | General Framework Agreement for Peace in Bosnia and Herzegovina

Cases

Cases before European domestic courts

2019 | The State of The Netherlands Supreme Court, Mothers of Srebrenca vs The State of the Netherlands

2017 | The State of The Netherlands Appeals Court of The Hague, Decision in the case of the Mothers of Srebrenica Foundation

2014 | The State of The Netherlands District Court of The Hague, Mothers of Srebrenica vs the State of the Netherlands

2014 | Human Rights Council for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Communications by T. Hero et al

2014 | Human Rights Council for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Communications by E. Kožljak et al

2013 | The State of the Netherlands Supreme Court The Hague, Nuhanovic vs the State of the Netherlands

2013 | Human Rights Committee for the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Communications by Fatima Prutina et al

2013 | European Court of Human Rights, Applications on behalf of Elezovic et al lodged by TRIAL 2008-2013

2011 | The State of the Netherlands Appeals Court of The Hague, Nuhanovic vs the State of the Netherlands

2011 | France Tribunale de Grande Instance, Kovac vs Karadzic and Plavsic

2010 | Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prosecutor’s Office vs Milorad Trbić (Second Instance Verdict)

2008 | The State of the Netherlands District Court of The Hague, Nuhanovic vs the State of the Netherlands

2008 | Norway Oslo District Court, Public Prosecuting Authority vs Mirsad Repak

2006 |Bosnia and Herzegovina, Prosecutor's Office vs Abduladhim Maktouf (Appeal Judgment)

Cases before US courts

2002 | US District Court Georgia, Kemal Mehinovic et al vs Nikola Vuckovic

1995 | US Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, Kadic vs Karadzic: Opinion of 2nd Circuit re: Subject Matter Jurisdiction

Cases before other foreign courts

2017 | European Court of Human Rights, Rabija Fejzić and others vs Serbia

2013 | European Court of Human Rights, Maktouf and Damjanović vs Bosnia and Herzegovina

2009 | Bosnia And Herzegovina, Prosecutor’s Office vs Milorad Trbić (1st Instance Verdict)

Reports

NGO Reports

2015 | TRIAL Report - Enforcement of damage compensation claims of victims of war crimes in criminal proceedings in Bosnia and Herzegovina – situation, challenges and perspectives.

2015 | TRIAL Report - BiH compensation for rape as war crime

2015 | Nuhanovic Foundation Report on War Reparations and Litigation: The Case of Bosnia-Herzegovina, by Kate Clark

2013 | International Organisation for Migration Report: Reparations for Wartime Victims in the Former Yugoslavia. In Search of the Way Forward

2012 | TRIAL Report: Between Stigma And Oblivion: A Guide on Defending the Rights of Women Victims of Rape or other Forms of Sexual Violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina, by G. Citroni

2012 | Impunity Watch Report on War Victims and Gender-Sensitive Truth, Justice, Reparations and Non-recurrence in Bosnia and Herzegovina

2012 | Humanitarian Law Centre Report: Material Reparations for Human Rights Violations Committed in the Past. Court Practice in the Republic of Serbia

2012 | Amnesty International Report: When Everyone is Silent: Reparations for Survivors of Wartime Rape in the Republika Srpska in Bosnia and Herzegovina

2012 | Amnesty International Report: Old Crimes, Same Suffering - No Justice for Survivors of Wartime Rape in North-East Bosnia and Herzegovina

2008 | International Center for Transitional Justice Report: The War Crimes Chamber in Bosnia and Herzegovina - From Hybrid to Domestic Court, by B. Ivanišević

United Nations (bodies) Reports

2020 | Views adopted by the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women - communication No. 116/2017

2014 | Human Rights Council Follow up report on enforced disappearances A/HRC/27/49/Add.2

2012 | International Disability Alliance, Suggestions for the 104th session of the HRC (BiH)

2010 | Human Rights Council rport - Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances (BiH)

1999 | Report by the UN Commission for Real Property Claims of Displaced Persons and Refugees in Bosnia and Herzegovina on the outcome of the implementation of Dayton Peace Agreement Annex 7: Return, Local Integration & Property Rights

Other Reports

2014 | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) report Combating Impunity for Conflict-related sexual violence in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Progress and Challenges

2013 | European Union Commission’s Bosnia and Herzegovina Progress Report

2013 | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) Interactive War Crimes Map BiH

2013 | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) War Crimes Processing Project BiH

2012 | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) report The right to social protection in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Concern on adequacy and equality

2011 | Letter from Judge Patrick Robinson, President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia to the Security Council, on the implementation of the Tribunal’s completion strategy (S 2011/316)

2011 | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) report Delivering Justice in Bosnia and Herzegovina: An Overview of War-Crimes Processing from 2005-2010

2010 | Independent Research Paper: Compensation, Transitional Justice and Conditional Credit in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Attempts to reform government payments to victims and veterans of the 1992-1995 war, by L. Popic and B. Panjeta

2010 | European Union Institute for Security Studies Paper: The EU in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Powers, decisions and legitimacy, by B.M.J. Szewczyk

2010 | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) The Processing of ICTY Rule 11bis cases in Bosnia and Herzegovina: Reflections on Findings from Five Years of OSCE Monitoring

2009 | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) report Reasoning in War Crimes Judgments in Bosnia and Herzegovina. Challenges and Good Practices

2008 | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) report Moving towards a harmonized application of the law applicable in war crimes cases before courts in Bosnia and Herzegovina

2007 | Final Report of the Housing and Property Claims Commission Kosovo

2006 | TESEV International Symposium on Internal Displacement – Report: Post-Conflict Property Restitution in Bosnia - Balancing Reparations and Durable Solutions in the Aftermath of Displacement, by R.C. Williams

2005 | Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) report War Crimes Trials Before the Domestic Courts of Bosnia and Herzegovina: Progress and Obstacles

Scholarship

Articles

2014 | Repairing the harm of victims after violent conflict. Empirical findings from Serbia, by S.Parmentier, M. Rauschenbach & E. Weitekamp, International Review of Victomology Vol. 20(1) 2014

2014 | Finishing the Job in the Balkan - Panel discussion hosted by The Hague Institute for Global Justice

2013 | The Impact of the ECHR’s Judgment in Maktouf-Damjanovic on Accountability and Punishment for War Crimes in Bosnia and Herzegovina by F. De Sanctis, Blog of the European Journal of International Law (EJIL: Talk!) 12 Nov 2013

2012 | Prosecuting War Crimes at Home: Lessons from the War Crimes Chamber in the State Court of Bosnia and Herzegovina by O. Martin-Ortega, International Criminal Law Review Vol. 12(4) 2012

2011 | Developing Bosnia and Herzegovina’s Capacity to Process War Crimes Cases: Critical Notes on a ‘Success Story, by A. Chehtman, Journal of International Criminal Justice Vol. 9(3) 2011

2007 | Breach of the Obligation to Prevent and Reparation Thereof in the ICJ’s Genocide Judgment by A. Gattini, The European Journal of International Law Vol. 18(4) 2007

2005 | Holding Human Rights Violators Accountable By Using International Law In U.S. Courts: Advocacy Efforts And Complementary Strategies by S. Coliver, J. Green & P. Hoffman, 19 Emory International Law Review Vol. 19 2005

2004 | The Human Rights Chamber for Bosnia and Herzegovina: a Case Study in Transitional Justice by J.D. Yeagar, International Legal Perspectives Vol. 14 2004

Books

2007 | Antoine Christian Buyse; Post-Conflict Housing Restitution The European Human Rights Perspective with a Case Study on Bosnia and Herzegovina, PhD Thesis, Leiden University