Examining theExclusionary Rule of Evidence in International Criminal Tribunals for Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda

The importance of maintaining the fairness of proceedings and protecting the rights of the accused have led various criminal justice systems to provide for special rules to the effect of ensuring fair trial . The exclusionary rule of evidence is one of the most important safeguards-provisions of these regulations, which makes it impossible to cite evidence obtained in an unauthorized manner in the court. Despite the fact that the International Criminal Tribunal for Yugoslavia and Rwanda, bear the task of prosecution of the perpetrators of the most serious international crimes, they have not overlooked the rights of the accused. According to Art 95 of rules of procedure and evidence of ICTR and ICTY, the exclusion of evidence obtained through unauthorized methods does not necessarily lead to exclusion of evidence, except when the methods used to obtain evidence cast substantial doubt on reliability of evidence or damage the integrity of the proceedings. The conditions set forth in this article, which their authenication have been granted to the discretion of judges, gives the rule an optional nature and restricts its scope to some extent. This solution is the result of international criminal tribunals' efforts in striking a balance between the rights of the accused and victim which with all its ambiguity in drawing the scope of the rule has been adopted by the ICC.