Court

A court is a tribunal, often as governmental institution, with the authority to adjudicate legal disputes between parties and carry out the administration of justice in civil, criminal, and administrative matters in accordance with the rule of law. In both common law and civil law legal systems, courts are the central means for dispute resolution, and it is generally understood that all persons have an ability to bring their claims before a court. Similarly, the rights of those accused of a crime include the right to present a defense before a court.

The system of courts that interprets and applies the law is collectively known as the judiciary. The place where a court sits is known as a venue. The room where court proceedings occur is known as a courtroom, and the building as a courthouse; court facilities range from simple and very small facilities in rural communities to large buildings in cities.

The practical authority given to the court is known as its jurisdiction (Latin jus dicere) – the court's power to decide certain kinds of questions or petitions put to it. According to William Blackstone's Commentaries on the Laws of England, a court is constituted by a minimum of three parties: the actor or plaintiff, who complains of an injury done; the reus or defendant, who is called upon to make satisfaction for it, and the judex or judicial power, which is to examine the truth of the fact, to determine the law arising upon that fact, and, if any injury appears to have been done, to ascertain and by its officers to apply a legal remedy. It is also usual in the superior courts to have barristers, and attorneys or counsel, as assistants, though, often, courts consist of additional barristers, bailiffs, reporters, and perhaps a jury.

Slobodan Praljak

Slobodan Praljak (2 January 1945) is a Croatian politician and writer who served as general in the Croatian Army and the Croatian Defence Council, an army of the Croatian Republic of Herzeg-Bosnia. He is among six Croat politicians convicted at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), in relation to war crimes during the Bosnian War. He was sentenced to 20 years in jail.

Background

Slobodan Praljak has 3 university degrees. In 1970 he graduated as an electrical engineer at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering in Zagreb with a GPA of 4/5. He wrote his thesis there on the correction of chromatic image in the main of an electrical signal for television work. In 1971 he graduated from the Faculty of Philosophy, majoring in philosophy and sociology. In 1972 he graduated from the Film Academy and began working in theater and TV. He also lectured in philosophy and psychology in Zagreb.

During 1970-is and 1980-is he was a director of theaters in Zagreb, Osijek and Mostar.

Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina

The Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina, often referred to as Bosnian Croats, are the third most populous ethnic group in that country after Bosniaks and Serbs, and are one of the constitutive nations of Bosnia and Herzegovina. They are a native ethnic group of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Croats of Bosnia and Herzegovina have made significant contributions to the culture of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Their mother tongue is Croatian, and most identify as Roman Catholic, although there is a small minority of atheists.

From the 15th to the 19th century, Croats in modern-day Bosnia and Herzegovina were often persecuted under the Ottoman Empire, causing many of them to flee the area. In the 20th century, political turmoil and poor economic conditions caused more to emigrate. Ethnic cleansing within Bosnia and Herzegovina in the 1990s saw Croats forced to different parts of Bosnia-Herzegovina, although having lived in numerous regions prior to the Bosnian War. According to the preliminary report by the Bosnia and Herzegovina statistics office, on the census of 2013 there were 553,000 Croats living in Bosnia and Herzegovina.

The Hague

The Hague (/ðə ˈheɪɡ/; Dutch: Den Haag pronounced [dɛnˈɦaːx] or 's-Gravenhage pronounced [ˈsxraːvə(n)ˌɦaːɣə]) is the seat of government in the Netherlands, and the capital city of the province of South Holland. With a population of 515,880 inhabitants (as of 1 January 2015) and more than one million inhabitants including the suburbs, it is the third-largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam. The Rotterdam The Hague Metropolitan Area, with a population of approximately 2.7 million, is the 12th-largest in the European Union and the most populous in the country. Located in the west of the Netherlands, The Hague is in the centre of the Haaglanden conurbation and lies at the southwest corner of the larger Randstad conurbation.

The Hague is the seat of the Dutch government and parliament, the Supreme Court, and the Council of State, but the city is not the capital of the Netherlands which constitutionally is Amsterdam. King Willem-Alexander of the Netherlands plans to live at Huis ten Bosch and works at Noordeinde Palace in The Hague, together with Queen Máxima. Most foreign embassies in the Netherlands and 150 international organisations are located in the city, including the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court, which makes The Hague one of the major cities hosting the United Nations, along with New York, Geneva, Vienna, Rome and Addis Ababa.

International Court of Justice

The International Court of Justice (French: Cour internationale de justice; commonly referred to as the World Court or ICJ) is the primary judicial branch of the United Nations (UN). Seated in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, the court settles legal disputes submitted to it by states and to provides advisory opinions on legal questions submitted to it by duly authorized international branches, agencies, and the UN General Assembly.

Activities

Established in 1945 by the UN Charter, the Court began work in 1946 as the successor to the Permanent Court of International Justice. The Statute of the International Court of Justice, similar to that of its predecessor, is the main constitutional document constituting and regulating the Court.

The Court's workload covers a wide range of judicial activity. After the court ruled that the United States's covert war against Nicaragua was in violation of international law (Nicaragua v. United States), the United States withdrew from compulsory jurisdiction in 1986 to accept the court's jurisdiction only on a case-by-case basis.Chapter XIV of the United Nations Charter authorizes the UN Security Council to enforce Court rulings. However, such enforcement is subject to the veto power of the five permanent members of the Council, which the United States used in the Nicaragua case.