The Specialist Chambers and the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office in Kosovo. The ‘Regionalization’ of International Criminal Justice in Context

In August 2015, Kosovo established the Specialist Chambers (SC) and the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office (SPO) with the mandate of prosecuting international and transborder crimes committed during and after the 1998^1999 armed conflict. This article examines the founding instruments of the SC and the SPO, the influence of certain regional organizations in their creation and management, their organization, jurisdiction, legal nature and the function they exercise within the international legal system. The key question is whether the SC and the SPO may be included in existing categories of judicial entities established to deal with international criminal justice. The article concludes that they represent a regional variation of mixed criminal tribunals.