About War Crimes Trials Database Project
The War Crimes Trials Database (WCTD) project aims to collect and present final judgements of the war crimes trials, reached before international and domestic courts from all over the world. In its initial phase, the database will present judgements reached by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and domestic courts, for the war crimes committed in the territory of Bosnia and Herzegovina during the armed conflict that took place in 1992-1995. After that, judgements from other countries will be collected and presented.
This database provides information for the objective research and familiarization with the facts. All the information is extracted from the final judgements and presented in the way they are presented in judgements without any change or interpretation, creating one easily accessible and searchable database. The design of the database is based on the information collected.
The database is publicly available, and it is intended to be used by researchers and the general public. Containing data categorized in 32 searchable categories, the database is an incomparable tool for finding all the facts and information related to war crimes trials (and judgements made) before the competent courts. Containing these various data, the database is not intended only for legal research, but also for other various fields. Finally, it is intended for the general public in affected countries, so the facts, established in accordance with the “beyond reasonable doubt” standard, could offer objective and verifiable information on war crimes committed and its, individual and social, consequences.
Who We Are
Goran Šimić is the driving force of this project.
Prof. dr. sc. Goran Šimić is the Dean and Professor of the Faculty of Law at University "VITEZ", Bosnia and Herzegovina. His research interests include Criminal Law, International Criminal Law, and Transitional Justice and he was teaching worldwide including at the University of Cambridge, University of Oslo, University of Louisville, Istanbul Commerce University, and Baghdad University. He is visiting professor at the University of Szczecin.
Keiichi Kubo
Admir Suljagić
Ewa Michałkiewicz-Kądziela
We are honored to have signed an official partnership agreement with the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, the High Judicial and Prosecutorial Council of Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the Faculty of Law and Administration of the University of Szczecin on this project.
We are grateful to all individuals and institutions who contributed to the realization of this project.
In particular, Emir Ahmethodžić and Kaltrina Kodraliu, managed to do tremendous work in searching, finding, and categorizing data from the judgements.
This on-line database was publicly launched on 26th November 2021. The works for the initial construction and the public launch of the database, as well as its maintenance until March 2022, were funded by the Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research provided by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (Project Number: 18KK0350, Principal Investigator: Keiichi Kubo). The works for the further data collection since April 2022 and the maintenance of the database are managed by Goran Šimić. We would like to express our gratitude for the generous financial assistance to our research activities.
Please cite the database as follows: Goran Šimić, War Crimes Trials Database, www.warcrimesdatabase.net.
