As the Tribunal nears the completion of its mandate, the only remaining cases are those pending before the Appeals Chamber. The cases of the three ICTR fugitives were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals.

The ICTR Judges have the responsibility of determining the guilt or innocence of those accused of committing genocide, war crimes, and/or crimes against humanity in Rwanda in 1994, and to sentence those whom they convicted to a period of imprisonment commensurate with their crimes. The maximum sentence that can be imposed by the Chambers on an accused is life imprisonment.

Over the course of the trial, Judges listen carefully to the live testimony of various witnesses and examine documents and other evidence presented in court by the parties -the Prosecution and the Defence. After evaluating all of the evidence in the record, the Judges issue a judgment for that case.

The Judges come from a variety of legal systems, therefore bringing to the Tribunal a rich diversity of legal expertises and perspectives. As required by the Statue of the ICTR, judges are persons of high moral character, impartiality and integrity who possess the qualifications required for appointment to the highest judicial offices.

During most of its mandate, the ICTR was operating with three Trial Chambers and one Appeals Chamber, the latter being shared with the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY). As the Tribunal nears the completion of its mandate, the only remaining cases are those pending before the Appeals Chamber. The cases of the three ICTR fugitives were transferred to the jurisdiction of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals. Cases on appeal are heard by a bench of five Judges, whereas each Trial Chamber was composed of three Judges.

The Chambers were assisted in their work by the Chambers Support Section (CSS). CSS was comprised of numerous administrative and legal staff employed by the Registry to assist the judges in conducting research, help in the preparation of and management of the various cases, and assist in the drafting of legal documents.

All of the judges were elected by the United Nations General Assembly from a list submitted by the Security Council. The Judges were elected for a term of 4 years and were eligible for re-election. Initially, the Chambers were composed of 16 judges and no two could have been nationals of the same states. However, in 2002, the Security Council established a pool of 18 ad litem judges and since then, expanded the use of these ad litem judges in order to complete the existing trials and conduct additional trials.

Current ICTR Judges – Order of Precedence