The Mladić Case before the ICTY – an Insider’s Perspective

The rendering of the judgment in the case of Prosecutor v. Ratko Mladić on 22 November 2017 was a defining moment in the history of modern international criminal law. The first indictment against Ratko Mladić had been issued almost 20 years prior, during the early years of the ICTY. The judgment marked the end not only of the five year-trial but also of the work of the ICTY. As one of the biggest war crimes trials in history, it presents numerous challenges and lessons that are relevant for other present and future international courts and tribunals. Jonas Nilsson was the Senior Legal Officer advising the Trial Chamber throughout the pre-trial and trial proceedings in this case. He is therefore in a unique position to give an insider's perspective to these challenges and lessons.

Jonas Nilsson worked in ICTY (Chambers) 2005-2017 as a Senior Legal Officer and Legal Officer. He was involved in, among other cases, the Haradinaj et al. case, the Gotovina et al. case, the Stanišić and Simatović case, and the Mladić case. He has a Master of Laws from the University of Lund and a Master of International Human Rights Law from the Raoul Wallenberg Institute in Lund. Jonas Nilsson has previously worked with human rights and refugee law at Amnesty International and the Swedish Helsinki Committee. Between 2001 and 2003, he lived in Kosovo and worked at the Ombudsperson Institution in Kosovo as a Legal Officer and the Director of Investigations. He has published many articles on international criminal law and human rights, including articles for the Oxford Companion to International Criminal Justice (Antonio Cassese, Ed.), Code of International Criminal Law and Procedure – Annotated (Larcier), and the Commentary on the Law of the International Criminal Court (Mark Klamberg, Ed.).