Rizk receives 12 nominees for spots on Hariri tribunal

Daily Star, Rizk receives 12 nominees for spots on Hariri tribunal, June 19, 2007

BEIRUT: The Higher Judicial Council nominated on Sunday 12 Lebanese magistrates to serve on the UN-administered international court to try suspects in the February 2005 killing of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. The names of potential magistrates to participate in the court were forwarded to Justice Minister Charles Rizk.
UN Security Council Resolution 1757, passed three weeks ago, approved the creation of a mixed Lebanese-international court to try suspects in the killing of Hariri and 22 others in a truck bombing on February 14, 2005.
Magistrate Antoine Kheir, the head of the council, said the names of the 12 selected magistrates would be undisclosed "until further notice so as to preserve their safety and so as not to upset judges who were not short-listed."
UN chief Ban Ki-moon will select four out of the twelve nominated judges 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.