Cassese Presents 6-Month Report
Special Tribunal for Lebanon President Antonio Cassese has presented a report to the STL”s Management Committee which offers information on the most important activities carried out so far by the court”s four organs (Chambers, Registry, Office of the Prosecutor, Office of Defense).
These activities include the Registry”s efficient preparations for the establishment of all the necessary practical infrastructures and the recruitment of competent and experienced staff; the rapid approval by the Judges of several legal documents for the functioning of the Tribunal; the deferral of jurisdiction by Lebanon and the issuance by the Pre-Trial Judge of various orders on the four detained Lebanese generals; the stepping up by the Prosecutor of his investigations; the intense contacts of the Head of the Defense Office with the Lebanese bar associations and Lebanese lawyers at large; and the unreserved cooperation by the Government of Lebanon to the various organs of the Tribunal.
The report, entitled "The STL Six Months on: a Bird”s Eye View," was submitted Sept. 14, 2009.
It offers a succinct overview of the activities of the STL in the six months elapsed since its establishment and is distinct from the Annual Report to the Secretary-General of the U.N. and to the Government of Lebanon due in March 2010.
In his report, Cassese further reflected on the challenges that the STL must meet and on how to tackle them. He reiterated that the tribunal intends to dispense justice free from any political or ideological fetter and based on the full respect of the rights of victims and defendants.