Institut für Strafrecht und Kriminologie

Leitung und Betreuung

Dr. Filip Vojta

Telefon: +41 31 684 63 32
E-Mail: filip.vojta@unibe.ch
Postadresse: Institut für Strafrecht und Kriminologie
Schanzeneckstrasse 1
3001 Bern

Curriculum

Filip Vojta is a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute for Penal Law and Criminology, University of Bern. He holds a Master of Law degree (mag. iur.) from the Faculty of Law, University of Zagreb, and a Doctor of Law degree (Dr. iur.) from the Faculty of Law, University of Freiburg (summa cum laude). He previously held the position of a researcher in the Department of Criminology at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law (formerly Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law) and was a research associate of the Max Planck Partner Group for Balkan Criminology (MPPG). His first research monograph, Imprisonment for International Crimes: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of the ICTY Sentence Enforcement Practice (Duncker & Humblot, 2020), comprehensively explores the significance of penal rehabilitation for the perpetrators of international crimes and its implementation in the prison treatment of the ICTY convicts. In 2020, the study was awarded the Otto Hahn Medal by the Max Planck Society as an outstanding scientific achievement.

As a research associate, Filip Vojta participated in several international research projects, including Life Imprisonment Worldwide, Life Imprisonment Worldwide Revisited (with the University of Nottingham) and Imprisonment in the Balkans (with MPPG). His research was previously funded by the Max Planck Society, German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) and Open Society Foundations. As an author and co-editor (with Dr. Timm Sureau), Filip Vojta is currently working on a book project On Punishment: Negotiating Society. The book will feature contributions from an interdisciplinary group of scholars on the contemporary trends and challenges in penal policies worldwide. He is simultaneously engaged in interdisciplinary research on international criminal justice and transitional justice, with focus on the post-Yugoslavian states.

Research disciplines and fields

International criminal law
Transitional justice
Comparative penology
Criminology of collective and political violence

Membership

European Society of Criminology Postgraduate and Early Stage Researchers Working Group (Chair)
European Criminology Group on Atrocity Crimes and Transitional Justice (Member)
European Society of Criminology Working Group on Qualitative Research Methodologies and Epistemologies (Member)
Perpetrator Studies Network (Member)

Prizes & Awards

Otto Hahn Medal 2020. The Max Planck Society honours up to 30 young scientists and researchers each year with the Otto Hahn Medal for outstanding scientific achievements.
Finalist for the “Deutscher Studienpreis 2019” award, granted by the Körber Foundation (shortlisted among 482 applications as one of the ten best German doctoral dissertations in the humanities).

Publications

Monograph

Vojta, F. (2020): Imprisonment for International Crimes: An Interdisciplinary Analysis of the ICTY Sentence Enforcement Practice. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin. (URL: https://www.duncker-humblot.de/en/buch/imprisonment-for-international-crimes-9783428159949/?page_id=0&typ=buc

Chapters in collective volumes

Vojta, F. (2019): Punishment and Sentence Enforcement for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Former Yugoslavia (Dissertation Summary). In: Sureau, T. & Auge, Y. (Eds.): Understanding Retaliation, Mediation and Punishment: Collected Results. Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle (Saale), 215-221. (URL: 2019-12-Sureau-Auge-Understanding-REMEP_online-administration.pdf (mpg.de)
Vojta, F. (2016): Life and Long-Term Imprisonment in the Countries of the Former Yugoslavia. In: Van Zyl Smit, D. & Appleton, C. (Eds.): Life Imprisonment and Human Rights. Hart, Oxford, 351-371 (URL: Life Imprisonment and Human Rights(Oñati International Series in Law and Society): Dirk van Zyl Smit: Hart Publishing (bloomsburyprofessional.com))
Vojta, F. (2014): Punishment and Sentence Enforcement for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Former Yugoslavia. In: Getoš Kalac, A.-M., Albrecht, H.-J. & Kilching, M. (Eds.): Mapping the Criminological Landscape of the Balkans: A Survey on Criminology and Crime with an Expedition into the Criminal Landscape of the Balkans. Duncker & Humblot, Berlin, 401-428. (URL: Mapping the Criminological Landscape of the Balkans | Duncker & Humblot (duncker-humblot.de))

Journals

Vojta, F. (2024): The Capacity of the International Criminal Court to Fight Human Trafficking. Journal of Human Trafficking (Published online: 19 January 2024; URL: https://doi.org/10.1080/23322705.2024.2303268).
Vojta, F., Pingen, A. (2023): The Mental Incapacity Defence in International Criminal Justice: Some Observations in Light of the ICC Appeal Judgment in the Ongwen Case. Justice Actualités Report 38(3): 11-14 (URL: https://www.ccja-acjp.ca/pub/en/justice-report/issue-38-3/).
Vojta, F. (2023): Book Review: Why Punish Perpetrators of Mass Atrocities? Purposes of Punishment in International Criminal Law by Florian Jeßberger and Julia Geneuss. Punishment & Society (OnlineFirst: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/14624745231213860).
Vojta, F. (2021): Researching Perpetrators of Genocide. Kjell Anderson and Erin Jessee (Eds.) (Review Essay). Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice 63(1). (URL: https://www.ccja-acjp.ca/pub/en/reviews/researching-perpetrators-of-genocide/).
Vojta, F. (2021): Researching Perpetrators of Genocide. Kjell Anderson and Erin Jessee (Eds.) (Review Essay). Canadian Journal of Criminology and Criminal Justice 63(2) (forthcoming).
Vojta, F. (2020): Stern, Jessica: My War Criminal. Personal Encounters with an Architect of Genocide (Review Essay). Monatschrift für Kriminologie und Strafrechtsreform (Journal of Criminology and Penal Reform) 103(1): 75-77.
Vojta, F. (2018): Enforcement of International Sentences in Light of the ICC Decision in Lubanga and Katanga Cases. Freedom from Fear Magazine – F3, Issue 14: 29-35.
Vojta, F. (2016): 6^th Pecs Summer Course in Criminology: Criminology of Terrorism (Conference Report). Balkan Criminology News 2/2015: 4-6.
Vojta, F. & Carl, S. (2016): ESC Postgraduate and Early Stage Researchers Working Group (EPER): “We’ve got your back in Münster, too!”. Criminology in Europe: Newsletter of the European Society of Criminology 15(2): 18-19.
Vojta, F. (2015): Imprisonment in the Balkans: Some Remarks on the Punishment of Life and Long-Term Imprisonment in the Countries of the Former Yugoslavia. Balkan Criminology News 1/2015: 1-5.
Carl, S. & Vojta, F. (2015): European Society of Criminology Postgraduate and Early Stage Researchers Working Group (EPER): "With Porto and a New Special Issue on the Horizon". Criminology in Europe: Newsletter of the European Society of Criminology, Vol. 14 (2): 23-24.
Vojta, F. (2014): Some Observations on the Enforcement of International Sentences in the Case of the ICTY. Justice Actualités Report 29(1): 32-33.
Carl, S. & Vojta, F. (2014): ESC Working Group Reports: European Society of Criminology Postgraduate and Early Stage Researchers Working Group (EPER). Criminology in Europe: Newsletter of the European Society of Criminology, Vol. 13 (3): 13-15.

Online resources, reports and databases

Vojta, F. (2024): The Operational Logic behind Designating States for the Enforcement of International Sentences: The Implications of the Ongwen Case. EJIL: Talk! – Blog of the European Journal of International Law (February 8, 2024; URL: https://www.ejiltalk.org/the-operational-logic-behind-designating-states-for-the-enforcement-of-international-sentences-the-implications-of-the-ongwen-case/).
Vojta, F. (2022): A Biographical Account of Benjamin B. Ferencz's “Law, Not War” Doctrine Spotlight on Jurists (Online presentation series; “Seing Antisemitism through Law” research project at Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen; March 29, 2022; URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/360236203_A_Biographical_Account_of_Benjamin_B_Ferencz's_Law_Not_War_Doctrine).
Vojta, F. (2021): Fritz Bauer. Spotlight on Jurists (Online presentation series; “Seing Antisemitism through Law” research project at Justus-Liebig-Universität Gießen; December 21, 2021; URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/358307111_Fritz_Bauer_Spotlight_on_Jurists_presentation_series_of_the_Seeing_Antisemitism_through_Law_research_project).
Vojta, F. (2021): From West Berlin, With Love: The Legacy of the Spandau Prison in the Contemporary International Sentence Enforcement Practice. KU Leuven Transitional Justice Blog (Special Series on the Nuremberg Trials and Their Legacy; November 2, 2021; URL: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/357737142_From_West_Berlin_with_Love_The_Legacy_of_the_Spandau_Prison_in_the_Contemporary_International_Sentence_Enforcement_Practice).
Vojta, F. (2021): Data set on life and long-term prison sentences in Kosovo and Serbia (Life Imprisonment Worldwide Revisited research project at the University of Nottingham; URL: https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/hrlc/research/life-imprisonment-worldwide/acknowledgment.aspx)
Vojta, F. (2015): Research Focus III: International Sentencing. Life Imprisonment Worldwide – The Balkan Component (Research Report). In: Getoš Kalac, A.-M. & Kilchling, M (Eds.): Scientific Report of the Max Planck Partner Group for Balkan Criminology: Mission, Profile, Research, Network. Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Freiburg & University of Zagreb Faculty of Law, Zagreb, 58.
Vojta, F. (2015): Research Focus III: International Sentencing. Punishment and Sentence Enforcement for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Former Yugoslavia (Research Report). In: Getoš Kalac, A.-M. & Kilchling, M (Eds.): Scientific Report of the Max Planck Partner Group for Balkan Criminology: Mission, Profile, Research, Network. Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Freiburg & University of Zagreb Faculty of Law, Zagreb, 56.
Vojta, F. (2014): Enforcement of ICTY’s Sentences (Research Report). In Albrecht, H.-J. & Sieber, U. (Eds.): Forschungbericht 2012-2014. Max-Planck-Institut für ausländisches und internationales Strafrecht, Freiburg i. Br., 137-140.

Conferences, Presentations, Interviews and Workshops

Invited Presentations (Selection)

23/09/2022: “‘What you asked me, nobody had asked me before’: The epistemological, ethical and methodological relevance of first-hand qualitative research with convicted perpetrators of international crimes” (22nd Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology [Eurocrim] – “Challenges and Opportunities in a Virtually and Physically Connected Europe: The Need for Criminology”, 21-24/09/2023, Malaga, Spain).
19/05/2022: “Researching Imprisonment for International Crimes: Theoretical, Methodological and Ethical Challenges in Socio-Legal Research with Imprisoned War Criminals” (Max Planck Law Curriculum Event: Law and Anthropology. Rethinking Normativities, Legal Dynamics, Approaches and Practices, Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, 18-20/05/2022, Halle (Saale), Germany).
05/07/2019: “Punishment and Sentence Enforcement for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law: The Case of the Former Yugoslavia” (IMPRS REMEP International Summer School “Understanding Social Order”, 01-07/07/2019, Hinterzarten Germany).
01/09/2018: “Towards a New View on the Rehabilitation of International Criminals: The ICTY Case Study” (18^th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology [Eurocrim] – “Crimes against Humans and Crimes against Humanity”, 29/08/-01/09/2018, Sarajevo, Bosnia and Herzegovina).
23/09/2016: “Etiology of Terrorism and Genocide: Perspectives for Deradicalization” (16^th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology [Eurocrim] – “Crime and Crime Control. Structures, Developments and Actors”, 21-24/09/2016, Münster, Germany).
02/06/2016: “Hate Crimes, Ethno-Nationalist Terrorism and a Post-Conflict Society: Once Upon a Time in the Balkans” (6^th Pécs International Summer Course in Criminology – “Criminology of Terrorism”, 29/05/-03/06/2016, Pécs, Hungary).
03/09/2015: “Implementing Punishment for Atrocities. Lessons Learned from the ICTY?” (15^th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology [Eurocrim] – “Criminology as Unitas Multiplex”, 02-05/09/2015, Porto, Portugal).
16/04/2015: “Life and Long-Term Imprisonment in the Countries of the Former Yugoslavia” (“Life Imprisonment and Human Rights” workshop at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law (IISL), 16-17/04/2015, Oñati, Spain).
12/09/2014: “Researching International Criminal Justice: Practical Aspect of a Qualitative Approach” (14^th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology – “Criminology of Europe: Inspiration by Diversity”, 10-13/09/2014, Prague, Czech Republic).
06/09/2013: “Punishment and Sentence Enforcement for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Former Yugoslavia” (13^th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology [Eurocrim] – “Beyond Punitiveness: Crime and Crime Control in Europe in a Comparative Perspective”, 04-07/09/2013, Budapest, Hungary).
14/09/2012: “Enforcement of the ICTY Sentences” (12^th Annual Conference of the European Society of Criminology – “Criminology in the 21^st Century: A Necessary Balance between Freedom and Security”, 12-15/09/2012, Bilbao, Spain).

Organised Conferences, Panel Discussions and Colloquiums

23/09/2016: International EPER panel “I’ve Got Your Back, Jack! – Reviewing and Writing for Academic Journals”, featuring guest speaker Prof. John Winterdyk (Mount Royal University, Canada), 16^th Annual ESC Conference, Münster, Germany.
25/01/2016: International Open Access Conference at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law, Freiburg, Germany.
03/09/2015: International EPER panel “Publish or Perish – How to Achieve the Former and Avoid the Latter”, featuring guest speakers Prof. John Winterdyk (Mount Royal University, Canada) and Prof. Paul Knepper (University of Sheffield, the UK), 15^th Annual ESC Conference, Porto, Portugal.
16/10/2014-16/04/2015: International “Criminal Law, Criminology and Film Colloquium” at the Max Planck Institute for the Study of Crime, Security and Law (bi-weekly presentations by guest researchers and professors at the MPI), Freiburg, Germany.

Interviews

“Vojta: Rehabilitacija nije odobravanje ili opravdavanje zločina, pa ni ratnih” [Vojta: Rehabilitation does not mean condoning or justifying crimes, including war crimes]; Al Jazeera Balkans (June 20, 2023; URL: https://balkans.aljazeera.net/teme/2023/6/20/filip-vojta-ratni-zlocini-nisu-nikakvo-herojstvo-i-ne-mogu-se-tolerirati).

Teaching

Since 2022: Lecturer in International Criminal Law, Institut für Strafrecht und Kriminologie, Universität Bern
Spring Semester 2023: Seminar “Strafzwecke im Völkerstrafrecht“ (Purposes of Punishment in International Criminal Law), Institut für Strafrecht und Kriminologie, Universität Bern
Spring Semester 2024: Seminar “Transitional Justice”, Institut für Strafrecht und Kriminologie, Universität Bern