Judges of the Residual Special Special Court for Sierra Leone have yesterday in a Plenary meeting in The Hague, Netherlands elected Justice Pierre G. Boutet to a two-year term as Residual Special Court President and Supreme Court’s Justice Emmanuel Ekundayo Roberts as Vice President.

According to a press release by the Judiciary Of Sierra Leone Communications, Justice Boutet now succeeds Sierra Leone’s Justice Jon Kamanda while Justice Emmanuel Ekundayo Roberts succeeds Justice Teresa Ann Doherty.

Sierra Leone’s Chief Justice His Lordship Justice Desmond Babatunde Edwards was elected Staff Appeal Judge, succeeding Justice Emmanuel Ekundayo Roberts.

“This is the first time the Judges have met in person since 2018 due to travel restrictions resulting from the Covid- 19 pandemic. The Plenary meeting lasted for three days,” the Judiciary stated.

They noted that Justice Roberts was appointed a Roster Judge of the Residual Special Court in 2013, adding that he became a Judge of Sierra Leone Supreme Court in 2014, and he had previously been a Judge of the Court of Appeal.

He received his LLB from Fourah Bay College, University of Sierra Leone, in 1989 and his BL in 1990 from the Sierra Leone Law School. From 2003 to 2007, he worked as a Legal Consultant at the Law Officers Department in Freetown. Since 2005, he has also been a Lecturer in Civil Procedure at the Sierra Leone Law School. In 2010, he was made a Fellow of the Commonwealth Judicial Education Institute in Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada.

The Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone is responsible for the ongoing legal obligations of the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which concluded its mandate in December 2013.

These obligations include supervision of prison sentences, witness protection and support, maintenance a preservation of the archives, and assistance to national prosecution authorities.