International criminal tribunals and human rights law: Adherence and contextualization

Given their mandate to prosecute persons responsible for the most atrocious of human rights violations, International Criminal Tribunals (ICTs) are generally hailed as welcome enforcers of international human rights law: a new instrument in the toolkit of human rights protectors. However, ICTs investigate, detain, prosecute and try individuals, which are all activities that necessarily entail the potential infringement of human rights. However, unlike States, ICTs are not party to human rights treaties, as a result of which it is unclear whether they are bound by international human rights law. Similarly, the differences between States and ICTs may warrant a modification in the way in which ICTs interpret and apply human rights norms, as compared to States, given the specific context in which they operate. The central question of this dissertation is how ICTs should interpret and apply human rights norms in their procedural practice. The first part of the dissertation investigates whether and to what extent international human rights law applies to the ICTs. The second part of the thesis analyzes the ICTs’ interpretation and application of three specific human rights: the right to privacy, the right to liberty, and the right to be tried without undue delay, as compared to the way in which these rights are interpreted and applied in international human rights law. The final Part offers conclusions and recommends ways in which the ICTs’ interpretative practice of human rights norms can be improved