DHAKA: A four-member judges delegation from International Crime Tribunal led by ICT- 2 Chairman Justice Obaidul Hassan visited The Hague in Netherlands on August 23-26.
The other members of the delegation included Justice M Enayetur Rahim, Chairman of ICT-1, Justice Jahangir Hossain and Justice Anwarul Haque, members of ICT-1.
Prior to that, the delegation attended an international conference at Buenos Aires in Argentina.
During the visit, the Judges delegation exchanged views and gain insights from hosts of legal institutions in the Netherlands, said a press release.
The Hague, considered as world's capital of justice and peace, provided ample avenues for exchanges as well as opportunities for future engagements.
The team paid a daylong visit to the International Criminal Court (ICC) on August 25.
Bangladesh has always been actively engaged with the court as a state party to the International Criminal Court (ICC), governed by the Rome Statute, the release added.
The visiting judges reiterated Bangladesh's support for the ICC with regard to their effort for universality.
According to the press release, ICC is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community.
During their visit to the ICC, the delegation were provided with a detailed guided tour to the ICC as well as multimedia presentations on the activities of the Office of the Prosecutor, the Registry as well as on working procedure of pre-Trial, Trial and Appeal chambers of the ICC.
The delegation also had a comprehensive dialogue with ICC Judge Chang-ho Chung (Republic of Korea) and Judge Raul Pangalangan (Philippines).
They discussed issues of mutual interests and avenues of furthering cooperation between the two courts.
Earlier on 24 August 2015, the delegation visited the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) where they also witnessed the live hearing in addition to visiting the court to witness the provisions of e-court.
The ICTY is a United Nations court of law dealing with war crimes that took place during the conflicts in the Balkans in the 1990's. Since its establishment in 1993 in The Hague, the ICTY has irreversibly changed the landscape of international humanitarian law and provided victims an opportunity to voice the horrors they witnessed and experienced.
Therefore, during their visit the Judges of ICTBD had the opportunity to discuss their precedent-setting decisions on genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Judge Alphons Orie accompanied the delegation during their visit to the ICTY.
Dr. Olivier Ribbenlink of Asser Institute made a presentation for the delegation to showcase workings of the Institute and discussed avenues of future cooperation between Bangladesh and the Netherlands in the judicial sector.
The relevant officials of the ICTY and ICT briefed the visiting delegation about the procedures of administration of justice including investigation, prosecution, trial, protection of witnesses, etc. the delegation also heard the court proceedings and saw for themselves the logistical facilities at the courts.
Bangladesh Ambassador to the Netherlands Sheikh Mohammed Belal and Counselor Kazi Russel Pervez accompanied the delegation during their visit.
BDST: 1647 HRS, AUG 27, 2015
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