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Judge Carmel Agius (Malta) President of the ICTY since 17 November 2015 Born: 18 August 1945, Malta |
Judge Carmel Agius is the Tribunal’s current President, elected to this position by his fellow Judges on 21 October 2015. He served as Vice-President from 2011 through 2015 and is also an Appeals Chamber judge of both the Tribunal and the ICTR. He was first elected to the Tribunal in 2001 and re-elected in 2004. Between 2003 and 2010, he was Presiding Judge of Trial Chamber II of the Tribunal during which time he presided over the Brđanin, the Orić and the multi-accused Popović trials. He was also engaged in the initial appearance and pre-trial preparation and disposal of several other cases.
Since 2010, he has been dealing with appeals from both the Tribunal and the ICTR. Presently, he is presiding over multiple appeal matters. Since 2003 he has chaired the Rules Committee of the Tribunal and has served as a member of the Tribunal’s Bureau. In 2010 and 2011, on behalf of the Tribunal he has coordinated and brought to a conclusion the drafting of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals which were submitted to and accepted by the UN Security Council, and later adopted by the judges of the Mechanism. In 2011 he was elected a Judge of the Mechanism.
Prior to being elected to the Tribunal, Judge Agius was a Senior Judge in the Court of Appeal of Malta and the Constitutional Court of Malta, and was Acting Chief Justice on several occasions. Between 1999 and 2008, Judge Agius was a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. From 1990 and 2001, he was Head of the Maltese Delegation at all annual meetings of the United Nations Commission on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice in Vienna. He also represented the Maltese Government at the 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th United Nations Congresses on Crime Prevention and the Treatment of Offenders.
Between 1996 and 1998, Judge Agius represented the Government of Malta at the meetings of the United Nations Preparatory Committee on the proposed Permanent International Criminal Court. In 1998, he was Acting Head of Delegation and Adviser of the Government of Malta at the United Nations Plenipotentiary Conference on the International Criminal Court, Rome where he was actively involved in the negotiations and signed the Final Document on behalf of Malta. Later, he represented his country during the work of the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court which drew up the Rules of Evidence and Procedure and the Definitions of Crimes for the ICC.
From 1996 to 1999, he was Pro-Chancellor of the University of Malta, and between 1998 and 2004, he was a member of the Editorial Board of the Mediterranean Journal of Human Rights published by the Foundation for International Studies and the Faculty of Law of the University of Malta. Between 1989 and 2001, Judge Agius was the representative of the Maltese Judiciary on the Central Council of the International Association of Judges.