UN SECRETARY-GENERAL APPOINTS DR. OLUFEMI ELIAS OF NIGERIA AS ASSISTANT SECRETARY-GENERAL AND REGISTRAR OF UN MICT

United Nations Secretary-General Mr. Ban Ki-Moon has appointed Dr. Olufemi Elias of Nigeria as UN Assistant Secretary General and Registrar of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT).

Until this appointment, Dr. Elias served in various legal positions in intergovernmental organizations. He served as the Legal Adviser and a Director of the Hague-based global chemical weapons watchdog, the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW). He also served as the Executive Secretary of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal in Washington D.C. Prior to that he held various positions in the UN. Dr. Elias is an Associate member of the Institut de Droit International. He is a Visiting Professor of International Law at Queen Mary University of London. He is also Secretary General of the African Association of International Law and an Executive Member of the American Society of International Law. A member of the Nigerian Bar, Dr. Elias holds a law degree from the University of Oxford, an LLM from the University of Cambridge and a PhD from University College London.

The MICT was established by the United Nations Security Council in 2010 to carry out a number of essential functions of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY), after the completion of their respective mandates.

Reacting to this appointment, the President of the MICT, Judge Theodor Meron said he looked forward to working closely with Dr. Elias towards ensuring that the court serves as a model of best practices, being efficient and effective as it carries out the functions entrusted to it.

Dr. Elias will replace John Hocking of Australia who previously served in this position.