OSCE Mission to Serbia, ICTY Chief Prosecutor, legal community discuss work of international prosecutors

BELGRADE, 15 December 2009 - Judges, public prosecutors and legal experts discussed the work of international prosecutors from the perspective of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) during an OSCE-supported roundtable meeting held in Belgrade today.

The meeting, organized jointly by the Prosecutors' Association of Serbia and the OSCE Mission to Serbia, focused on the responsibilities of the ICTY Office of the Prosecutor in the context of national and international law and the challenges it faces. Serge Brammertz, the ICTY Chief Prosecutor, delivered a lecture on the independence of public prosecutors.

"The meeting facilitated the exchange of experiences and frank discussions among international and domestic prosecutors, which we believe will strengthen co-operation between the participants and help them advance professionally," said Ruth van Rhijn, the Head of the OSCE Mission's to Serbia Rule of Law Department.

Goran Ilic, the President of the Management Board of the Prosecutors' Association, added: "In light of the increasingly investigative role of domestic prosecutors in Serbia, the debate on the autonomy of international and domestic prosecutors' work was exceptionally useful."

The event was a part of a larger OSCE Mission project to support the advancement and independence of professional judicial associations in Serbia and to promote international judicial co-operation.