Arbour To Leave Tribunal


Chief UN war crimes prosecutor Louise Arbour will leave her post in September to take a seat on Canada's Supreme Court. Arbour's appointment to Canada's highest court, occurring "on the day of the dramatic withdrawal of troops from Kosovo," was long anticipated by legal observers, the Toronto National Post reports.
Arbour, who issued an indictment against Yugoslav President Slobodan Milosevic two weeks ago, will leave the UN chief prosecutor's job on 15 September, three years into her four-year term.

Despite international pressure to let Arbour complete her term, Canadian Prime Minister Jean Chretien faced a strong lobby at home to name the 52-year-old criminal law expert to the court (Tibbetts/Jimenez, Toronto National Post, 11 Jun).
By charging Milosevic and four other high-ranking Yugoslav officials with crimes against humanity, "Arbour made history and boosted the credibility of the tribunal" (Laura Eggertson, Toronto Star, 11 Jun). The indictment marked the first time an international court had charged a sitting head of state with war crimes, the Toronto Globe and Mail notes.

The Canadian government "was acutely aware of the international sensitivities of taking her away from her high-profile assignment," and "it appears to be no coincidence" that Justice Minister Anne McLellan announced Arbour's new appointment the day after NATO and Yugoslav generals signed a peace agreement (McIlroy/Makin, 11 Jun).
In a statement announcing her departure, Arbour wrote: "I will do everything in my power to ensure an easy transition to a new leadership in the Prosecutor's Office. ... The decision to accept this appointment has been a very difficult one for me to make. It has been made easier, however, by the confidence that I have that the two Tribunals are now successful, mature institutions, and that they are considerably greater than the sum of their parts. ... I believe that we can look to the future of international criminal justice with confidence" (Tribunal release, 11 Jun).