Second cycle of Mechanism’s Inter-University Video Lecture Programme continues with lecture delivered by Registrar Abubacarr Tambadou

Mr. Abubacarr Tambadou, Registrar of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism), on 21 January 2021 opened the new semester of the second cycle of the Inter-University Video Lecture Programme (Programme), “International Law and Facts Established before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY)”, with the delivery of a lecture entitled “The Role and functions of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals”.

Registrar Tambadou provided the participating students with the historical background of the Mechanism’s establishment and discussed in detail its role and functions. He also outlined the challenges faced by the Mechanism as a newly-formed body, mandated to perform a number of essential functions previously carried out by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the ICTY. Registrar Tambadou further discussed similarities and key differences between the mandates of the Mechanism and its two predecessor Tribunals. He engaged with students during a question and answer session explaining the Mechanism’s role in maintaining the legacies of these two pioneering ad hoc international criminal tribunals.

The lecture was the tenth in the second cycle of the Programme, which was launched in October 2020 with a lecture by the Mechanism’s President, Judge Carmel Agius. Other lectures have been given by experienced lawyers from the Mechanism’s Office of the Prosecutor, Chambers, and Registry, as well as by a member of the Defence, covering topics such as the destruction of cultural heritage, joint criminal enterprise, prosecution of war-time sexual violence, and the rights of the accused.

The lecture series, developed and implemented by the Mechanism’s Information Programme for Affected Communities (MIP), brings together postgraduate students from eight law faculties across the former Yugoslavia in order to initiate a dialogue about the region’s recent history, the role of the ICTY, and the principles of international criminal law and international humanitarian law.

More than 120 postgraduate students have taken part in this cycle of the Programme via video-conference, including law students from the University of Niš, the University of Podgorica, the University of Priština, the University of Sarajevo, the Ss. Cyril and Methodius University of Skoplje, the University of Zagreb, the University of Vitez, and the University of Donja Gorica.

The second cycle of the Programme is anticipated to continue with lectures delivered on a weekly basis until the end of March this year.

The Programme is part of the broader MIP, launched in January 2019, which aims to contribute to increased awareness and knowledge among affected communities about the 1990s conflicts in the former Yugoslavia based on the ICTY and Mechanism cases. The MIP is generously supported by the European Union and the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs.