Lebanon’s Special Tribunal waits for UN decision to start operating

 

Judge Chukri Sader of the Justice Ministry said that the preparations for the Special Tribunal for Lebanon are complete.

 

“The judges have been appointed, and the tribunal is waiting for the decision of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon to start operating,” Sader said.

 

He also said that a Lebanese man was appointed as an assistant to Canadian Investigating Judge Daniel Bellemare, who is to become the tribunal’s prosecutor.

 

“Two Lebanese judges and three other foreigners will form the first members of the court, and a similar number will form the appeals chamber,” Sader said.

 

He also noted that Lebanon has informed the UN about the completion of logistical and financial matters.

“The tribunal will apply laws and regulations based on a mixture of Anglo-Saxon, continental, Lebanese and Arab conventions on terrorism,” he added.

 

Sader noted that the tribunal has adopted Article Six of the Sierra Leone Special Tribunal’s charter in order to consolidate the legal connection between crimes against humanity and the crime of the assassination of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri.