| Date | 9 October 2008 |
|---|
Instructions
Click on the Link to this button beside the speech or paragraph to expand it to a useful panel containing:
- The date of the speech
- A link to the original page of the PDF document
- A URL that can be used in most blogs
- A structured Citation template suitable for use in a Wikipedia article.
Those last two rows ("URL" and "wiki") use textboxes to hide most of the text.
To access this text, right-click in the textbox with your mouse and choose "Select All", then right-click again and choose "Copy". Now you can right-click into another window and choose "Paste" to get the text.
Agenda item 154
Judges of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed on the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991
Letter from the Secretary-General addressed to the President of the General Assembly (A/63/458)
Letter from the President of the Security Council addressed to the President of the General Assembly (A/63/470)
The President
Before taking up agenda item 154, I would like to consult members with regard to proceeding to the consideration of this agenda item. In this connection, I would like to draw attention to the relevant provision of rule 15 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly, which reads as follows:
"No additional item may, unless the General Assembly decides otherwise by a two-thirds majority of the members present and voting, be considered until seven days have elapsed since it was placed on the agenda and until a committee has reported upon the question concerned."
In the absence of an objection, I shall take it that the Assembly agrees to proceed to the consideration of agenda item 154.
The President
I now invite the attention of the Assembly to documents A/63/458 and A/63/470. In document A/63/458, the Secretary-General transmitted two letters, dated 5 June 2008 and 1 September 2008, from Judge Fausto Pocar, President of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. In his letter, the Secretary-General informs the Assembly that the President seeks the extension of the terms of office of the permanent and ad litem judges elected to serve with the Tribunal in 2005 and whose terms of office expire on 16 November 2009 and 23 August 2009, respectively. The Secretary-General also states that the President has requested an extension of the terms of the remaining ad litem judges who are not currently appointed to serve at the Tribunal.
The Secretary-General further informs the Assembly that the President has provided details on the necessity and urgency of this request, which is primarily to ensure that the judges may complete the cases to which they are assigned. As the statute of the International Tribunal does not provide for the extension of the terms of office of the judges, the approval of the Security Council, as the parent organ of the International Tribunal, and of the General Assembly, as the organ that elects its judges, would be needed.
In document A/63/470, the President of the Security Council transmits to the President of the General Assembly the text of Council resolution 1837 (2008) of 29 September 2008, whereby the Council, inter alia:
"1. Decides to extend the terms of office of the following permanent judges at the Tribunal who are members of the Appeals Chamber until 31 December 2010, or until the completion of the cases before the Appeals Chamber if sooner:
-Liu Daqun (China)
-Theodor Meron (United States of America)
-Fausto Pocar (Italy)
-Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana)
"2. Decides to extend the terms of office of the following permanent judges at the Tribunal who are members of the Trial Chambers until 31 December 2009, or until the completion of the cases to which they are assigned if sooner:
-Carmel Agius (Malta)
-Jean-Claude Antonetti (France)
-Iain Bonomy (United Kingdom)
-Christoph Flügge (Germany)
-O-Gon Kwon (South Korea)
-Bakone Justice Moloto (South Africa)
-Alphons Orie (The Netherlands)
-Kevin Parker (Australia)
-Patrick Robinson (Jamaica)
-Christine Van den Wyngaert (Belgium)
"3. Decides to extend the terms of office of the following ad litem judges, currently serving at the Tribunal, until 31 December 2009, or until the completion of the cases to which they are assigned if sooner:
Ali Nawaz Chowhan (Pakistan)
Pedro David (Argentina)
Elizabeth Gwaunza (Zimbabwe)
Frederik Harhoff (Denmark)
Tsvetana Kamenova (Bulgaria)
Uldis Kinis (Latvia)
Flavia Lattanzi (Italy)
Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
Janet Nosworthy (Jamaica)
Michèle Picard (France)
Árpád Prandler (Hungary)
Kimberly Prost (Canada)
Ole Bjørn Støle (Norway)
Stefan Trechsel (Switzerland)
"4. Decides to extend the term of office of the following ad litem judges, who are not currently appointed to serve at the Tribunal, until 31 December 2009, or until the completion of any cases to which they may be assigned if sooner:
Melville Baird (Trinidad and Tobago)
Frans Bauduin (The Netherlands)
Burton Hall (The Bahamas)
Frank Höpfel (Austria)
Raimo Lahti (Finland)
Jawdat Naboty (Syrian Arab Republic)
Chioma Egondu Nwosu-Iheme (Nigeria)
Prisca Matimba Nyambe (Zambia)
Brynmor Pollard (Guyana)
Vonimbolana Rasoazanany (Madagascar)
Krister Thelin (Sweden)
Klaus Tolksdorf (Germany)
Tan Sri Dato Lamin Haji Mohd Yunus (Malaysia)."
If there is no objection, I propose that the Assembly decide to endorse this recommendation of the Secretary-General, which was endorsed by the Security Council in its resolution 1837 (2008) of 29 September 2008.
The President
The Assembly has thus concluded this stage of its consideration of agenda item 154.
