Daily Star - 12 magistrates shortlisted to serve on tribunal, June 12, 2007
BEIRUT: The Higher Judicial Council nominated 12 Lebanese magistrates Monday to serve on the international court to try suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
Justice Minister Charles Rizk had requested that the council meet to discuss the names of potential magistrates for the court.
UN Security Council Resolution 1757, passed on May 30 to establish a mixed Lebanese-international court to try suspects in the February 2005 Hariri killing, has sparked heavy debate in Lebanon.
Magistrate Antoine Kheir, the head of the council, said the names of the 12 selected magistrates will be kept undisclosed "until further notice, to preserve their safety and not to upset judges who were not shortlisted."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon will select four of the 12 nominees to serve on the court.
One Lebanese judge will serve in the tribunal's trial chamber, along with two international judges, while two Lebanese judges will serve in the appeals chamber with three international judges.
The names proposed by the council are binding and cannot be changed or added to by the Lebanese government.
But this procedure does not apply to the deputy prosecutor at the court, who will also be Lebanese and will be appointed by the Lebanese government in cooperation with the UN.
The tribunal is not expected to begin functioning any time soon, because no country has yet been chosen to host the court or to incarcerate those convicted by the tribunal.
Separately, the council also approved Rizk's proposal to assign Judge Dani Sharabieh as investigative magistrate in the assassination attempt against Defense Minister Elias Murr in July 2005 and Judge Rashid Mezher as investigative magistrate into the twin bus bombings in Ain Alaq in February which killed three people and wounded more than 20 others.
Ban said Monday he will start work "the venues and selection of judges and prosecutors" in the near future. "There will be many very complex technical and administrative issues which needs our attention and support from all member states," he told reporters in New York.
BEIRUT: The Higher Judicial Council nominated 12 Lebanese magistrates Monday to serve on the international court to try suspects in the assassination of former Premier Rafik Hariri.
Justice Minister Charles Rizk had requested that the council meet to discuss the names of potential magistrates for the court.
UN Security Council Resolution 1757, passed on May 30 to establish a mixed Lebanese-international court to try suspects in the February 2005 Hariri killing, has sparked heavy debate in Lebanon.
Magistrate Antoine Kheir, the head of the council, said the names of the 12 selected magistrates will be kept undisclosed "until further notice, to preserve their safety and not to upset judges who were not shortlisted."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon will select four of the 12 nominees to serve on the court.
One Lebanese judge will serve in the tribunal's trial chamber, along with two international judges, while two Lebanese judges will serve in the appeals chamber with three international judges.
The names proposed by the council are binding and cannot be changed or added to by the Lebanese government.
But this procedure does not apply to the deputy prosecutor at the court, who will also be Lebanese and will be appointed by the Lebanese government in cooperation with the UN.
The tribunal is not expected to begin functioning any time soon, because no country has yet been chosen to host the court or to incarcerate those convicted by the tribunal.
Separately, the council also approved Rizk's proposal to assign Judge Dani Sharabieh as investigative magistrate in the assassination attempt against Defense Minister Elias Murr in July 2005 and Judge Rashid Mezher as investigative magistrate into the twin bus bombings in Ain Alaq in February which killed three people and wounded more than 20 others.
Ban said Monday he will start work "the venues and selection of judges and prosecutors" in the near future. "There will be many very complex technical and administrative issues which needs our attention and support from all member states," he told reporters in New York.
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