## Facts

- Radoslav Brđanin was a senior Bosnian Serb political figure and President of the Crisis Staff of the Autonomous Region of Krajina (ARK) in northwestern Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992.
- The Trial Chamber found he played a central role in a campaign targeting non-Serb civilians across 13 ARK municipalities during the 1992 armed conflict.
- He was convicted at trial of crimes against humanity (including persecution, deportation, and forcible transfer), grave breaches (including wilful killing and torture), and war crimes (including wanton destruction and damage to religious institutions).
- The Trial Chamber imposed a sentence of 32 years’ imprisonment.
- Both Brđanin and the Prosecution appealed, challenging aspects of the legal standards applied and the sufficiency of evidence for particular convictions.

## Issues

1. What standards govern appellate correction of alleged errors of law and fact in ICTY judgments.
2. What elements and evidentiary link are required for joint criminal enterprise (JCE) liability, including the role of “principal perpetrators” and the relationship between direct perpetrators and an accused participant.
3. Whether evidence supported convictions for specific incidents, including torture and crimes connected to the attack on Bosanska Krupa.
4. What proof is required to sustain aiding-and-abetting liability for specific crimes such as torture.

## Decision

- The Appeals Chamber partially granted both the Defence and Prosecution appeals.
- It affirmed most convictions and upheld core findings that Brđanin bore criminal responsibility for the ARK campaign against non-Serbs.
- It accepted Prosecution grounds that the Trial Chamber applied an overly restrictive understanding of JCE, particularly regarding the role of principal perpetrators and their relation to the accused.
- It reversed the conviction for torture as a grave breach because the evidence did not establish that Brđanin aided and abetted the commission of torture.
- It reversed convictions tied to the Bosanska Krupa attack due to an underlying factual error that undermined the Trial Chamber’s findings.
- It reduced the sentence from 32 to 30 years’ imprisonment.

## Legal Principles

- On errors of law, an appellate chamber corrects legal mistakes that invalidate the decision by stating the correct standard and reviewing relevant factual findings under that standard.
- On errors of fact, an appellate chamber does not disturb findings unless no reasonable trier of fact could have reached the same conclusion on the record.
- JCE liability turns on the existence of a common criminal purpose, the accused’s intent regarding that purpose (and foreseeability standards for extended JCE), and the accused’s contribution to implementation; formal identification of “principal perpetrators” is not required.
- Aiding and abetting requires proof that the accused’s acts substantially contributed to the specific crime and that the accused knew the acts assisted that crime; general leadership status or association with a broader campaign is insufficient without that crime-specific linkage.

## Conclusion

The Appeals Chamber largely upheld Brđanin’s responsibility for crimes committed in the ARK campaign, while correcting the Trial Chamber’s JCE analysis and setting aside discrete convictions where the evidentiary and legal requirements for factual findings and aiding-and-abetting liability were not met, resulting in a reduced sentence of 30 years.


Prosecutor v. Brđanin, Case No. IT-99-36-A (Int’l Crim. Trib. for the Former Yugoslavia Apr. 3, 2007)