A Finn elected as judge to International Criminal Tribunal

Press release 253/2005
25 August, 2005

Professor of Criminal Law at the Helsinki University Raimo Lahti has been elected as ad litem judge to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, ICTY, in an election held at the UN General Assembly in New York on 24 August. Lahti has been acting as professor of criminal law at the Helsinki University since 1979.

ICTY was established in 1993 by UN Security Council resolution to prosecute and sentence persons responsible for serious violations of humanitarian law in the area of former Yugoslavia. The tribunal, seated in The Hague, the Netherlands, has 14 actual judges.

By electing ad litem judges the UN seeks to make the operation of the tribunal more efficient, and make it possible for the tribunal to complete its mission by the year 2010. The first ad litem judges were elected in 2001 for a four-year term of office. Also back then there was one Finn among the elected ad litem judges. He was Justice of the Supreme Court Per-Johan Lindholm. Finland works in active cooperation with the Yugoslavia tribunal and has supported its operation circumstances in many different ways.

Finland’s candidate for ICTY, Professor Raimo Lahti, was elected by 158 votes, when there were 188 countries casting votes. In addition to Lahti, 26 other judges were also elected for a four-year term of office, as of the date of election, 24 August. They are from the following countries: Malaysia, Trinidad and Tobago, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, Austria, Jamaica, Germany, the Bahamas, France, Guyana, Canada, Sweden, Argentina, Denmark, Zambia, Bulgaria, Switzerland, Norway, the Netherlands, Syria, Latvia, Hungary, Zimbabwe, Italy, Pakistan and Nigeria.

Additional information: Director Marja Lehto, Unit for Public International Law, tel. +358 9 160 55726, or Attaché Anna Esko, tel. +359 9 160 55706.