FREETOWN, Sierra Leone, March 17 (UPI) -- The U.N.-sponsored Special Court for Sierra Leone has averted a possible conflict of interest by limiting the president's term to one year.
The move means Appellate Justice Geoffrey Robertson, who has written a book defendants in a pending case deem biased, has finished his term as president.
Robertson remains an appellate justice but will not hear any cases involving the Revolutionary United Front. Justice Renate Winter takes over the presidency, Registrar Robin Vincent announced in a statement posted Wednesday.
The justices revised their bylaws during a weekend meeting in Freetown.
"As a result of this amendment (Robertson) has now completed his term of office as presiding judge of the Appeals Chamber and president of the court," said the registrar. "However, he remains a judge of the Appeals Chamber."
An Australian native, Robertson had been practicing in Britain since 1973.
