The STL President, Judge Antonio Cassese process to initiate trials in absentia

The STL President, Judge Cassese, convenes the Trial Chamber for the first time

The STL President, Judge Antonio Cassese, following a consultation with the Presiding Judge of the STL Trial Chamber, has today issued an order convening the STL Trial Chamber for the first time, in the case of Ayyash et al. It will be for the STL Pre-Trial Judge to ‘seize the Trial Chamber of the issue of whether to initiate proceedings in absentia’, and thereafter for the trial chamber to consider submissions from both the Prosecutor and the Head of the Defence Office. This will be with a view to determining whether or not the requirements of Rule 106 have been met, which would allow the STL to conduct proceedings in absentia.

The judges of the Trial Chamber have been named as Judge Robert Roth of Switzerland, the Presiding Judge of the Chamber; Judge Micheline Braidi of Lebanon; Judge David Re of Australia; Judge Janet Nosworthy of Jamaica, an alternate judge; and Judge Walid Akoum of Lebanon, an alternate judge.

David Young
9 Bedford Row International