Kenya’s Supreme Court judge Isaac Lenaola has been chosen to lead the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone as its new President, taking over from his previous role as Vice President. The appointment was made during a two-day plenary session of the court’s judges held in The Hague, where important operational and administrative issues were also discussed.
Justice Lenaola will serve a two-year renewable term, overseeing the tribunal that continues the work of the former Special Court for Sierra Leone. At the same meeting, British jurist Andrew Hatton was elected Vice President, and Sierra Leonean Justice Tonia Barnett was named Staff Appeals Judge.
A member of the Residual Special Court since 2013, Justice Lenaola joined Kenya’s Judiciary in 2003 and was appointed to the Supreme Court in 2016. Before his elevation to the apex court, he presided over the Constitutional and Human Rights Division at the High Court in Milimani, Nairobi.
Justice Lenaola’s judicial experience also includes regional service. Between 2011 and 2018, he was Judge and Deputy Principal Judge at the East African Court of Justice, where he handled cases involving regional integration and human rights. His new role adds an international dimension to his already extensive judicial career.
Justice Hatton, who has also served at the RSCSL since 2013, practiced law in the United Kingdom from 1987 to 2012. He began part-time judicial duties in 2004 and was an International Criminal Judge with the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo (EULEX) between 2011 and 2012. In 2012, he was appointed as a Circuit Judge in the UK.
Justice Barnett, joining the RSCSL in 2021, has had a long career in the Sierra Leone Judiciary, serving as a Magistrate from 2005, including as Senior Magistrate from 2011 to 2017. She became a Judge of the Court of Appeal in 2020 and has handled a wide range of civil and criminal cases.
During the plenary, judges received briefings from the court’s Registrar, the Prosecutor, and the Principal Defender. They considered a number of issues affecting the RSCSL, including proposed amendments to the Rules, a draft Stocktaking Report, funding concerns, and the 12th Annual Report covering 2025.
The Residual Special Court continues to execute the mandate of the former Special Court for Sierra Leone, which ended in December 2013. Its work includes supervising sentence enforcement, safeguarding witnesses, preserving court archives, and supporting national prosecutions connected to cases handled by the tribunal.
Justice Lenaola’s election highlights Kenya’s ongoing contribution to international judicial processes, placing the Supreme Court judge in a key position within a tribunal that maintains global legal accountability.
