The Special Court for Sierra Leone recently announced that Justice Pierra G. Boutet(photo) of Canada has been elected to a one-year term as Presiding Judge of Trial Chamber 1.
Justice Boutet previously served as Presiding Judge of Trial Chamber 1 from 27 May 2005 to 19 June 2006. Prior to his appointment by the United Nations as a Special Court judge in December 2002, Justice Boutet served in the Canadian Forces as a Legal Officer occupying various positions and completed his career at the rank of Brigadier-General.
He graduated from Laval university in Quebec in 1969 and was admitted to the Quebec bar in 1971. He subsequently joined the military in 1973.
In 1982,Justice Boutet became a military judge, assumed the position of Deputy Chief Military Trial Judge in 1986 and was appointed Chief Military Trial Judge in 1987. As a judge, he participated in and presided over numerous trials in Canada and in many other parts of the world, more particularly in Europe and the Middle East.
In 1993, on promotion, be became the Judge Advocate General (JAG)of the Canadian Forces and was responsible for the provision of legal advice and legal services in the Department of National Defence and the Canadian Forces.He used his position to increase awareness of international humanitarian law in the Canadian Forces and in Canada.
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