Uganda: Lydia Mugambe Appointed Judge of UN's International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals

The Secretary General of United Nations (UN), Antonio Guterres has appointed Uganda's Lady Justice Lydia Mugambe as a judge of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals.

Mugambe's appointment was confirmed on Friday by Uganda's permanent representative to UN, Adonia Ayebare.

"Congratulations Justice Lydia Mugambe for your appointment as a judge of residual mechanism of International Criminal Tribunals. Thank you Antonio Guterres for accepting her nomination." Ayebare said.

Established in 2010, the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, also referred to as the IRMCT or the Mechanism, is an international court established by the United Nations Security Council in to perform the remaining functions of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) following the completion of those tribunals' respective mandates.

The Mechanism has a roster of 25 independent Judges who serve both branches of the Mechanism as provided for in the statute.

The Judges are elected by the United Nations General Assembly for a term of four years and are eligible for reappointment by the United Nations Secretary-General after consultations with the Presidents of the Security Council and of the General Assembly.

Lydia Mugambe's bio

Lydia Mugambe, is a Ugandan lawyer who served as the Inspector General of Government (IGG) between 2020 and 2022.

She has also served as judge at the High Court of Uganda between May 2013 and September 2020. Before that, she was a magistrate in Uganda's lower courts.

She is famously remembered for delivering a judgement in 2017 against Mulago National Referral Hospital, which had been sued by Jennifer Musimenta and her husband Micheal Mubangaizi, for the disappearance of their newborn baby.

In her famous ruling, the judge found the hospital culpable of negligence, and consequently, awarded the couple USh85 million in damages.

Mugambe holds a Bachelor of Laws from Makerere University and a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre.

She also holds a Master of Laws from the University of Pretoria, South Africa.

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