6 The Investigation Stage

The ‘investigation’ (or ‘pre-trial inquiry’) is the period between the discovery of the crime and the final formulation of the ‘charges’ or of an ‘indictment’ which is handed over to a court for trial. Whereas in national criminal proceedings the exact end of this stage might be difficult to define due to special proceedings and different forms of trials,1 in international criminal procedure the investigation terminates when the ‘charges’ or the ‘indictment’ are handed over to the court.2 At the ICTY and ICTR, according to Arts 18 (4) and 17 (4) of the respective...