The Secretary-General of the United Nations, Mr. Kofi Annan has appointed four ad litem Judges to the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), namely Ms. Salomy Balungi Bossa (Uganda), Mr. Lee Gacuiga Muthoga (Kenya), Ms. Flavia Lattanzi (Italy) and Ms. Florence Rita Arrey (Cameroon). The ad litem Judges have been appointed at the request of the President of the ICTR, Judge Erik Møse.
The new Judges have already been assigned to various cases: Judge Bossa to the Butare case which started on 12 June 2001, Judge Muthoga to Government II, Judges Lattanzi and Arrey will sit in the trial ofGovernment I. The two cases involving Government I and Government II are scheduled to start on 3 November 2003. The Butare case and the Government cases are expected to last two years.
The appointment of the ad litem judges follows Resolution 1431 whereby the Security Council decided to establish a pool of 18 ad litem Judges. At any one time a maximum of four judges may be called upon to be part of trial teams to enable the Tribunal expedite its work.
Judge Bossa was born in 1956. She started her career in 1980 as a Lecturer at the Law Development Center in Uganda. From 1988 to 1997, she was an Advocate with the High Court of Uganda. In 1997, she was appointed as a Judge of the High Court of Uganda. In 2001, she became the first woman Judge of the East African Court of Justice
Judge Arrey was born in 1948 in Buea (Cameroon). She started her career in 1973 as State Counsel of Kumba. In 1975, she became President of the Court of First Instance (Tiko) and in 1979 Substitut du Procureur Général of Buea. From 1990 to 1994, she was President of the Court of Appeal in Bamenda, becoming the first Cameroonian woman to hold that position. Until her appointment, she was Judge at the Supreme Court of Cameroon.
Judge Lattanzi was born in 1940 at Addis Ababa (Ethiopia). She started her career as Assistant Professor of International Law at the University of Rome from 1966 to 1970 and from 1973 to 1985. She was Professor at the University of Chieti from 1970 to 1973. She was full Professor of International Law from 1990 to 1995 at the University of Sassari and from 1995 to 2000 at the University of Terano. She has been President of the Commission set up by the Italian Ministry of Justice in the implementation of international rules in criminal justice matters.
Judge Mathoga was born in 1945. He started his career in 1970 as Advocate at the High Court of Kenya. From 1976 to 1984, he was member of the Council of the Law Society. From 1979 to 1981, he was Vice-Chairman and was the Chairman from 1981 to 1983.
The swearing-in ceremony of the ad litem judges is scheduled to take place as soon as they arrive at Arusha.