Judicial proceedings and reconciliation: Croatian and Serbian claims for the genocide before the International Court of Justice

Abstract

Justice is one of the main components of the process of reconciliation. When materialized in its institutionalized form, justice is achieved through trials, whether to individuals or states. In the case of war in former Yugoslavia apart from the trials to the individuals before International Tribunal for former Yugoslavia, equally important and current issue is the case before International Court of Justice regarding the claim and counter-claim of Croatia and Serbia concerning the crime of genocide. Through the analysis of this judicial proceeding using the concept of change in the conflictive ethos it is shown that it does not per se contribute to the reconciliation. Reasons for that are to be found in the very nature of the judicial proceedings and discrepancies between legal and social norms and understandings of justice. Nevertheless the importance of judicial proceedings is not denied as a structural measure in the reconciliation process therefore suggestions for the overcoming of deficiencies in the contribution of these proceedings to the reconciliation are offered.

Pravda je jedan od osnovnih činilaca procesa pomirenja. Iskazana u institucionalizovanom obliku, pravda se sprovodi putem suđenja, bilo pojedincima, bilo državama. U slučaju rata u bivšoj Jugoslaviji, pored suđenja pojedincima pred Međunarodnim krivičnim tribunalom za bivšu Jugoslaviju, važno je i aktuelno pitanje tužbe i protivtužbe Hrvatske i Srbije pred Međunarodnim sudom pravde u vezi sa zločinom genocida. Analizirajući ovaj sudski proces sa stanovišta promene konfliktnog etosa, ukazano je na to da ovaj sudski proces sam po sebi ne vodi pomirenju. Razlozi za to nalaze se u samoj prirodi sudskih postupaka i diskrepanci između pravnih i društvenih normi i shvatanja pravde. Pa ipak, važnost sudskih postupaka kao strukturne mere u procesu pomirenja nije poreknuta, te su dati predlozi za prevazilaženje navedene manjkavosti u pogledu doprinosa sudskih procesa pomirenju.