As the first President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and President of the ICTY Appeals Chamber, Antonio Cassese (“Nino”) played a key role in the drafting of a landmark decision in 1995, in the Tadić case, asserting that the notion of war crimes is not limited to international armed conflict, but also applies in the context of non-international armed conflict.

In this episode, the co-hosts Paola Gaeta and Antonio Coco discuss the background and legacy of this decision with Georges Abi-Saab, who was at that time a Judge at the ICTY Appeals Chamber. The discussion includes an account of the early days at the ICTY, the challenges that the Tribunal had to face and the engagement of all those involved in building this institution.