Secretary-General Appoints President, Welcomes Security Council’s Appointment

of Prosecutor of International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals

 

United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has decided to appoint Judge Theodor Meron of the United States as President of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (the Mechanism) for a term of four years effective 1 March 2012.  The decision was made after consulting the President of the Security Council and the judges of the Mechanism.  Judge Meron will continue serving as President of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) while working as the President of the Mechanism.

The Secretary-General welcomes the decision of the Security Council to appoint Mr. Hassan Bubacar Jallow of the Gambia as Prosecutor of the Mechanism.  The appointment, which was upon the nomination of the Secretary-General, is also effective 1 March 2012 and will be for a term of four years.  Mr. Jallow will continue serving as Prosecutor of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR).

Judge Meron and Mr. Jallow are eminently qualified for the respective positions of President and Prosecutor of the Mechanism.  The Secretary-General believes that the Mechanism will benefit immensely from their considerable experience, outstanding leadership skills, and profound commitment to international criminal justice.

The Mechanism was established by Security Council resolution 1966 (2010) to carry out a number of essential functions of the ICTY and ICTR after the closure of the Tribunals.  It will have two branches, in Arusha and in The Hague, which will commence functioning on 1 July 2012 and 1 July 2013, respectively.  The President and the Prosecutor shall be present at either seat of the branches of the Mechanism as necessary to exercise their functions.

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For information media • not an official record