On May 27, 2014, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (the Court) decided the case of Marguš v. Croatia, declaring inadmissible the claim that that there had been a violation of Article 4 of Protocol No, 7 (the right not to be tried or punished twice) of the European Convention on Human Rights (the ECHR) when Croatia convicted Marguš, a former commander of the Croatian army, of war crimes in 2007, having granted him an amnesty in 1997 pursuant to the General Amnesty Act (unofficial translation). According to the press release, the Court underlined that “where a State official was charged with crimes involving torture or ill-treatment, it was of key importance that criminal proceedings and sentencing were not time-barred and that the granting of an amnesty or pardon should not be permissible.” The Court “concluded that “by bringing a fresh indictment against Mr Marguš . . . the Croatian authorities had acted in compliance with the requirements of Articles 2 and 3 of the Convention and in a manner consistent with the requirements and recommendations of . . . international mechanisms and instruments.”

The Court also found that there had been no violation of Article 6 of the ECHR (the right to a fair trial) by virtue of the participation of the same judge in both sets of proceedings and by the fact that Marguš was denied the opportunity to make a closing argument.