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Three ad litem judges were sworn in today before the Tribunal enabling the ICTY to start two new trials this month and increasing its efficiency by bringing the number of concurrent trials to an all-time high of eight.
Judges Pedro R. David (Argentina), Elizabeth Gwaunza (Zimbabwe) and Michele Picard (France) were today sworn in as ad litem or temporary judges of the Tribunal. Their arrival brings the number of ad litem judges serving at the Tribunal to fifteen.
Judges David and Picard were appointed by the UN Secretary-General to serve on the Jovica Stanišić and Franko Simatović case which is scheduled to begin later this month. The UN Secretary-General appointed Judge Gwaunza to sit on the Gotovina and others case, also scheduled to begin in March.
The Tribunal has 16 permanent judges elected by the UN General Assembly, as well as ad litem judges who are appointed to sit on a specific trial. The appointment of ad litem Judges is made by the Secretary-General at the request of the Tribunal's president, from a pool of 27 judges elected by the UN General Assembly.
A temporary increase in the number of ad litem judges from a maximum of 12 to a maximum of 16 during the year 2008 was approved by the UN Security Council on 20 February 2008.
The biographies for Judges David, Gwaunza and Picard, as well as all other permanent and ad litem judges, can be found on the Tribunal's website at www.un.org/icty/glance/index.htm
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Courtroom proceedings can be followed on the Tribunal's website at
www.un.org/icty.
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