Justice Mugambe appointed International Criminal Tribunal judge

United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has appointed Justice Lydia Mugambe as judge of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT). 

Uganda's Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Adonia Ayebare, announced Justice Mugambe’s appointment on May 19, 2023. 

“Congratulations Justice Lydia Mugambe for your appointment as a judge of the residual mechanism of International Criminal Tribunals. Thank you, Secretary-General, of the United Nations Antonio Guterres for accepting her nomination, and my team UgandaMissionNY,” Ayebare stated in a tweet. 

Mugambe is the third Ugandan judge to be appointed at IRMCT. Elizabeth Ibanda-Nahamya also served at IRMCT before she died on January 5, 2023, and Justice Solomy Balungi Bossa who resigned and was elected to the International Criminal Court. 

IRMCT is mandated to perform a number of essential functions previously carried out by the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). 

In carrying out its multiple functions, the mechanism maintains the legacies of these two pioneering ad hoc international criminal courts and strives to reflect best practices in the field of international criminal justice. IRMCT was established by the United Nations Security Council in 2010. 

How judges are elected 

The judges of the Mechanism are elected by the General Assembly from a roster prepared by the Security Council following nominations from member states of the United Nations. 

Judges serve for a term of four years and can be reappointed by the UN Secretary-General with the consultation of the Presidents of the Security Council and of the General Assembly. 

The Mechanism comprises two branches. One branch covers functions inherited from the ICTR and is located in Arusha, Tanzania. It commenced functioning on July 1, 2012. The other branch located in the Hague, Netherlands, began operating on July 1, 2013. 

Who is Mugambe 

Mugambe, is a lawyer who served as judge at the High Court of Uganda between May 2013 and September 2020. 

On May 3, 2013, she was appointed to the Civil Division of the High Court by President Yoweri Museveni, 

Prior to her appointment to the High Court, Mugambe served as a Magistrate in Uganda's lower courts. 

In January 2017, Justice Mugambe delivered a judgement against Mulago National Referral Hospital, which had been sued by Jennifer Musimenta and her husband Micheal Mubangaizi, for the disappearance of their newborn baby. 

The judge found the hospital culpable of negligence and awarded the couple sh85m in damages. 

The ruling is hailed by legal observers and non-profit organisations in Uganda, as a watershed judgment, towards the recognition of "the rights of poor, vulnerable and marginalised women. 

The ruling was nominated for the Center for Health, Human Rights and Development (CEHURD), award in 2017.