Topics

Guest Post: Two-thirds of 45–Does Life Mean Life at the ICTY?

[Oliver Windridge is a British lawyer specialising in international criminal and human rights law. The views expressed herein are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or any other organisations affiliated to the author.] Should “life mean life” for those convicted of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes and sentenced to life imprisonment? Until now there was no clear answer. However, in Prosecutor v. Stanislav Galić rendered by the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT) on 23 June 2015 (the Decision), MICT President Meron sets out clearly for the first time that a person convicted by the ICTR, ICTY or MICT (the Tribunals) and sentenced to a term of life imprisonment may be considered eligible for early release, in other words life does not necessarily mean life. In this landmark decision, prompted by an early release application by Stanislav Galić, currently serving a sentence of life imprisonment in Germany where its law allows for release of prisoners serving life terms after 15 years, the decision aligns the Tribunal’s sentencing practices with current international human rights jurisprudence that prisoners serving life sentences should be afforded both the possibility of review of their sentences and a prospect of release. Referring in particular to the recent Vinter and others v. United Kingdom European Court of Human Rights Judgement, as well as guidance from the United Nations Standard Minimum Rules for the Treatment of Prisoners and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights that emphasize the rehabilitation of prisoners, President Meron makes clear that a sentence of life imprisonment at the Tribunals does not mean locking-em-up-and-throwing-away-the-key but instead comes with at least the possibility of early release. The Decision also addressed when the eligibility for early release occurs.