UN secretary general appoints Ugandan judge

United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has appointed Justice Elizabeth Ibanda-Nahamya as Judge of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT).

According to press statement from the court dated March 27, 2018, the appointment is effective March 22. Guterres made the appointment following the resignation of Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa, who was recently elected to the International Criminal Court.

Ibanda-Nahamya was Judge of the High Court, with her immediate past posting at the International Crimes Division.

Since 2013, she has been listed on the roster of eminent judges for the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone. She is the Vice President on the list.

Under a contingency arrangement, Judges on the list are on standby as and when needed.

The Judge has also been a steward in matters of law at the Special Court for Sierra Leone from 2004 to 2008, and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda from 1996 to 2004.

 
At the creation of Uganda's Constitution, starting from 1994 until promulgation in 1995, Ibanda-Nahamya was a researcher for the Constituent Assembly(CA).She was also legal adviser to the the CA Women Caucus.

The Judge has also served as legal consultant  at the Ministry of Finance(1993). She also worked as researcher at the Ministry of Justice and Constitutional Affairs, where she participated in drafting of the Parliamentary Election Bill and the Presidential Election Bill.

MICT fact file

According to the court web portal, MICT is mandated to perform a number of essential functions previously carried out by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia ("ICTY").

In carrying out its multiple functions, the mechanism maintains the legacies of these two pioneering ad hoc international criminal courts and strives to reflect best practices in the field of international criminal justice.