From war crimes to organized crime: evolving international jurisdiction for human rights violations and the new Kosovo Court

Abstract

The measures and efforts the international community has implemented to prosecute, punish and prevent egregious human rights violations indicate a committed desire to evolve criminal jurisdiction to close impunity gaps against perpetrators of these crimes. This thesis analyzes the development of international criminal law and the objectives of a right-based approach to prosecution, particularly in post-conflict transitions. From the beginning, International Criminal jurisdiction has been an evolving process and gaps continued to exist between the International Criminal Court, the hydrid and ad hoc tribunals. Kosovo’s newly created court (KRSJI) for prosecution of grave human rights violations is the natural progeny of this evolution to address these gaps. Kosovo exemplifies the strengths and weaknesses of a hybrid system where multiethnic historical complexity compounds a transitional environment that has allowed perpetrators to not only profit but to flourish and escape accountability and further evolution of criminal jurisdiction is needed to completely close the gaps. The hope is that the KRSJI can manifest its own legacy as a standard-setting mechanism for future prosecutions of gross human rights violations and organized crime.