Judge Carmel A. Agius, from Malta, was sworn in today as Appeals judge of the UN International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. The ceremony was presided over by Judge Charles Dennis Byron, the President of the Tribunal and witnessed by Mr. Adama Dieng, the Registrar representing the United Nations Secretary-General.

Judge Agius (64) started his career as Magistrate of the Maltese Court of Magistrates in 1977. He was successively appointed as Judge of the Superior Court, Presiding Judge of the Criminal Court, and member of the Constitutional Court. From 1990 to 1997, Judge Agius was the representative of the Maltese Judiciary in the meetings of the European Association of Judges. He is also the founder of the Maltese section of the International Association of Judges. In 1998, he was appointed as Chairman of the Commission on “The Taking of Children’s Evidence”. Judge Agius represented the Maltese government at the United Nations negotiations on the Permanent International Criminal Court. In 1999, he became Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

Judge Agius held a position of Consultant to the United Nations High Commission for Human Rights and Criminal Procedure in Kathmandu, Nepal. Between 1992 and 2001 Judge Agius led the Maltese Delegation to the Annual Meetings of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna. Judge Agius is credited with various publications in international law.

Judge Agius graduated with a Bachelor degree in English, Italian and Economics and obtained his LL.D from the University of Malta in 1969.