The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia came into being in late 1993, launching a process whose scope was unimaginable at the time. There are now three United Nations international criminal tribunals – the subject of this book – as well as various hybrid institutions, and the International Criminal Court. The literature in this field has grown exponentially, as has our knowledge of the complexities of the subject. With the three ad hoc tribunals organising their activities so as to complete their work by the end of the decade, this seemed a good point to attempt a stocktaking. Hopefully, the lessons and observations are of more than academic interest, and will help guide the International Criminal Court as it develops its own judicial personality. The book is longer than I had initially planned, and yet painfully incomplete at the same time. It is meant as a complement to the enormous periodical literature on the subject, rather than as a replacement.

Since the project began, I have been greatly helped by my research assistants at the Irish Centre for Human Rights, Shane Darcy and Edel Hughes. Several other law students also provided important assistance at various stages of the work, including Lynsay Gott, Lauren L. Gray, Yotam Ben Meir, Victoria Murphy, Kate M. Riggs and Stephanie Tyree. Colleagues were kind enough to take time to read portions of the manuscript, and to make suggestions and corrections, and I am very grateful to them: Diane Amann, Luc Côté, Megan Fairlie, Larry Johnson and Ola Olusanya.