Hybrid court for East Timor: Legal and political dimension

The United Nations established the International Criminal Court in East Timor regardless of decisions of national authorities. This court was, like other courts of such a kind, a product of political arrangements within the United Nations. The establishment of the Court was largely caused by the fact that after the withdrawal of Indonesia from East Timor, there were almost no lawyers with experience in the judiciary in the country. East Timor’s court was the first hybrid court. Although mixed composed, this court was a part of the national judicial system. This court was established immediately after the United Nations had established transitional administration in that country. Although there were proposals for establishing the special tribunal for prosecution of persons responsible for crimes, the Security Council did not act in accordance with those proposals. Instead, the Special Panels for Serious Crimes composed of both local and international judges for prosecution of persons suspected for crimes committed in East Timor were established. Special Panels were given exclusive jurisdiction over crimes of genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity, murders, sexual crimes and torture occurred in East Timor during the period from 1st January to 25th October 1999, and in some cases - for crimes committed before that period. The substantive law applied by the Special Panels for the crimes of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity was almost entirely taken from the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.