JURIST - Paper Chase Backup: ICC names Brazilian judge for Congolese militia leader's war crimes trial

[JURIST] The International Criminal Court (ICC) [official website] announced [text, PDF] Friday that Judge Sylvia Steiner [ICC profile], a Brazilian, will try Congolese militia leader Thomas Lubanga's war crimes case [ICC press release; JURIST report]. The ICC appointed one judge rather than the alternative choice of three to "ensure the proper and efficient functioning of the Chamber." Steiner was previously a judge of Brazil's Federal Court of Appeal.

As founder of the militant Union of Patriotic Congolese [GlobalSecurity backgrounder], Lubanga is accused [indictment, PDF; case materials] of enlisting child soldiers [BBC report] in the Democratic Republic of Congo's violence-plagued Ituri district [HRW backgrounder]. The ICC ruled earlier this week that Lubanga would go forward to face trial [JURIST report], the first ICC defendant to do so.

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