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Statement by the President and Vice-President of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon following their visit to Lebanon from 31 January to 6 February 2010
Beirut, 5 February 2010: At the conclusion of their week-long visit to Lebanon, the President of the Tribunal, Judge Antonio Cassese, and the Vice-President, Judge Ralph Riachy, wish to express their profound gratitude to the Lebanese political, judicial and academic authorities for the warm welcome extended to them and for the unfailing support offered to the Tribunal. The President and Vice-President should also like to thank the lawyers, experts in international criminal justice and Lebanese university students for the keen interest that they showed in the work of the Tribunal.
Through this visit, it has been possible both to maintain the dialogue with the Lebanese authorities and to strengthen the cooperation between the Tribunal and Lebanon. Indeed, a cooperation agreement, in the form of an exchange of letters, was concluded with the Minister of Justice regarding the appointment of a magistrate responsible for liaising between the Lebanese authorities and the Tribunal and, in particular, for implementing the Tribunal’s decisions and orders in Lebanon. Moreover, in order to strengthen the links between the Tribunal and Lebanese society, President Cassese and the Lebanese judicial and academic authorities agreed to encourage Lebanese members of the judiciary, lecturers and students to undertake study visits to the seat of the Tribunal in the Netherlands. They also agreed to work at strengthening the Tribunal’s outreach programme by holding regular seminars at Lebanese universities and continuing the dialogue with civil society, notably through meetings with representatives of the legal community and non-governmental organisations.
This visit also enabled the President and the Vice-President to listen to the concerns expressed by their interlocutors regarding the challenges facing the Tribunal and to provide an update on how its work is progressing. In this connection, the President underlined the fact that the Tribunal already has in place all the legal and administrative instruments necessary for its work, and is fully operational so that justice may be dispensed with complete independence and impartiality in accordance with the highest international standards. He also intends to adopt the maxim of the philosopher Plato, according to which justice is “a thing more precious than many pieces of gold.”
In conclusion, the President should like once again to pay tribute to the spirit of openness and cordiality on the part of all the people he had the opportunity to meet.
For further information, please contact Press Officer / Spokesperson Ms. Fatima El-Issawi:
Or Outreach Officer Ms. Wajed Ramadan:
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