Judge Andrésia Vaz of Senegal was today sworn-in as a judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda during a brief ceremony at the tribunal Headquarters in Arusha. The judge was appointed by the United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 31 May 2001 to replace Judge Laïty Kama, also from Senegal, who died on 6 May 2001.

She will serve as a member of Trial Chamber I for the remainder of the late Judge Kama’s term office, that is until 24 May 2003.

The judge’s solemn declaration was witnessed by the Registrar of the Tribunal, Mr. Adama Dieng, on behalf of the Secretary-General of the United Nations. Also present were the President of the Tribunal Judge Navanethem Pillay, judges of the Trial Chambers and other senior officials of the Tribunal and representatives of Defence Counsel.

Judge Vaz, 57, began her career as an Examining Judge of the Tribunal de première instance (First Instance Court), Dakar. She then became President of the Labour Tribunal in Saint Louis, Senegal; Chief of the Examining Judges in Dakar; Vice President of the Tribunal de Première Instance de Dakar and Judge of the Court of Appeal and at the Supreme Court.

In 1992 she became President of the Court of Appeal and a year later she was appointed first President of the National Electoral Commission of Senegal. In 1997 she became first President of the Supreme Court of Senegal.

Judge Vaz graduated from the Centre National d’Etudes Juridiques (National Centre for Judicial Studies), France in 1969.