Two days ago, the Security Council decided to establish the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (Mechanism) and adopted its Statute.
The purpose of the Mechanism is to carry out a number of essential functions of the two existing ad hoc Tribunals, including the trial of remaining fugitives indicted by the ICTY or ICTR as the Tribunals are supposed to complete their work no later than December 2014.
The Mechanism can hardly be seen as a “new” Tribunal.
Under the Statute, it shall continue the functions of the ICTY and of the ICTR.
The two branches of the Mechanism, one for the ICTY and another for ICTY, will have their seats in The Hague and in Arusha respectively. They will commence functioning on 1 July 2012 (branch for the ICTR) and 1 July 2013 (branch for the ICTY).
The Mechanism will continue the material, territorial, temporal and personal jurisdiction of the ICTY and the ICTR.
It will have the power to prosecute only the persons indicted by the ICTY or the ICTR and cases of contempt.
There will be two Trial Chambers (one for each branch of the Mechanism) and an Appeals Chamber common to both branches.
Like in early stage of the ad hoc Tribunals, there will be one chief Prosecutor for both branches of the Mechanism.
The President and the Registrar will also be common to both branches.
The Draft Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the Mechanism, which shall be based on the ad hoc Tribunals’ Rules, are to be submitted by the Secretary-General no later than 30 June 2011 for consideration and adoption by the judges of the Mechanism.