Security Council extends terms for four judges on Rwanda tribunal

The Security Council today extended the terms of office of four permanent judges at the United Nations International Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) in order to allow them to dispose of a number of ongoing cases.

By unanimously adopting a new resolution, the Council decided that Judges Pavel Dolenc of Slovenia and Yakov Ostrovsky of the Russian Federation would be allowed to finish the Cyangugu case, which they had begun before the expiration of their terms of office on Saturday.

Similarly, Judge Winston Maqutu of Lesotho will be able to finish the Kajelijeli and Kamuhanda cases, and Judge Navanethem Pillay of South Africa can complete proceedings in the Media case.

The four judges were not re-elected for a second term during elections held on 31 January. The terms of 11 of the permanent judges who are currently serving in the ICTR chambers will expire on 24 May.

According to the letter from the Tribunal President, which contains the request for the extension of terms, proceedings in the cases in question, with one exception, are well advanced. If the judges concerned had not been allowed to continue their work, it would have been necessary to start the trials anew with fresh panels of judges and to order the rehearing of witnesses and the representation of arguments.