The Government of the Republic of Croatia, in its session in November 1991, was among the first to propose the establishment of an international court for the prosecution of war crimes. A year and a half later, the UN Security Council passed a Resolution establishing The International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991 (ICTY).

  The Government of the Republic of Croatia proposed and Parliament subsequently passed the Constitutional Act on the Cooperation Between the Republic of Croatia and the ICTY in 1996. The Republic of Croatia has defined its cooperation with the ICTY through constitutional provisions in order to prevent possible obstacles at the legislative level as well as a constitutional prohibition of extradition of Croatia's own citizens.

  The Government of the Republic of Croatia established a Council on Cooperation with the ICTY,  members of which are prominent government officials and legal experts.

  The Government of the Republic of Croatia published a White Book documenting all forms of its cooperation with the ICTY.

  The Government of the Republic of Croatia provided its good services in negotiating a surrender to the custody of the ICTY of a number of Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina indicted for war crimes. That effort resulted in the custody of the ICTY of all but one Croat from Bosnia and Herzegovina for whom public indictements have been issued.

  In three cases, when the indicted Croats from Bosnia and Herzegovina were resident in Croatia and did not surrender voluntarily, Croatian authorities extradited them to the custody of the ICTY. The most recent, the extradition of Mladen Naletilić Tuta, has been praised as a clear sign of Croatia's cooperation with the ICTY.

  On a number of occasions the Government of the Republic of Croatia has expressed its regret that only four people have been indicted so far for atrocities against civilian life and property commited during the Serbian agression against the Republic of Croatia. None of them is in the custody of the ICTY.

  The Government and the people of Croatia hope that the ICTY will investigate and indicte persons responsible for grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions perpetrated during the months of wanton destruction, shelling, and killing of civilians in Osijek, Vinkovci, Dalj, Dubrovnik, Šibenik, Zadar, and many other towns and villages in Croatia.

  On April 5, 2000, Carla del Ponte, Chief Prosecutor of the ICTY, visited Zagreb and  discussed cooperation with President Mesić, Prime Minister Račan and Minister of Justice Ivanišević. In a statement to the press, both sides described the talks as above expectations. The Republic of Croatia will continue cooperating with the ICTY, and will also do everything in its power to prosecute the allegations of war crimes through its national judicial system, thus further strengthening the rule of law and the capacity of  legal institutions .