Prof. William A. Schabas has recently posted on his blog information on challenging the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia at the European Court of Human Rights. As one can see from the decisions mentioned in the post, the European Court of Human Rights found inadmissible the applications of Blagojević and Galić whose convictions had been upheld by the ICTY Appeals Chamber.
The European Court of Human Rights stressed that it lacks jurisdiction ratione personae to examine complaints directed against the International Criminal Tribunal itself or against the United Nations as a respondent. The Court reiterated that the United Nations is an intergovernmental international organisation with a legal personality separate from that of its member states and is not itself a Contracting Party. As to the Netherlands, the European Court of Human Rights opined that the sole fact that the ICTY has its seat and premises in The Hague is not sufficient ground to attribute the matters complained of to the the Netherlands. In arriving at that conclusion the Court has had regard to the particular context in which the question arises before it.
The European Court of Human Rights also noted that the cases involve an international tribunal established by the Security Council of the United Nations, an international organisation founded on the principle of respect for fundamental human rights and that moreover the basic legal provisions governing that tribunal’s organisation and procedure are purposely designed to provide those indicted before it with all appropriate guarantees.