Judge Carmel Agius to serve on UN criminal tribunal

Judge Carmel A. Agius was today elected by the 87^th Plenary Meeting of the 66th session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York as one of the twenty-five Judges of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.

In this first election of the Judges for the Mechanism, Judge Agius, who obtained the fourth largest number of votes out of 28 other candidates, will serve a term of four years and is eligible for reappointment by the United Nations Secretary-General. 

On 19^th October 2011, Agius was elected by acclamation as Vice-President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) for a two-year term effective 17 November 2011 during an Extraordinary Plenary Meeting of the Judges of the Tribunal.

Agius is currently an Appeals Chamber Judge of both the ICTY and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). He was first elected by the General Assembly of the U.N. as Permanent Judge of the ICTY in 2001 and was re-elected in 2004.

The International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals was established in 2010 with two branches, to start in 2012 as a branch of the ICTR and in 2013 as a branch of the ICTY respectively.  As of the commencement date of each branch, the Mechanism shall continue the jurisdiction, rights and obligations and essential functions of the ICTY and the ICTR, as well all contracts and international agreements concluded by the United Nations in relation to the ICTY and the ICTR.

Agius coordinated and brought to a conclusion the drafting of the rules of procedure and evidence of the residual mechanism to be submitted to the UN Security Council, for eventual adoption by the Judges of the residual mechanism.

The successful election of Judge Agius follows the successful election earlier this year of Professor David J. Attard as Judge on the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea.