5 January 2025
United Nations Secretary General António Guterres has reappointed Justice Professor Key Dingake to the roster of Judges of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone.
The reappointment, made on December 18, 2025, renews Justice Dingake’s tenure for a further six-year term. Judges of the Residual Special Court are appointed by the UN Secretary General for renewable six-year periods.
Justice Dingake was first appointed to the court in 2013. The Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone is an international criminal tribunal established by the UN and the Government of Sierra Leone to deal with serious violations of international criminal and humanitarian law committed during the country’s civil war in the mid-1990s.
The court is best known for the trial, conviction, and imprisonment of former Liberian President Charles Taylor. It is composed of approximately 16 Judges drawn from various countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, Austria, Ireland, Kenya and Botswana.
Judges sit as required to conduct the court’s business. Proceedings may be held in Freetown, Sierra Leone, or in The Hague, Netherlands, where the court’s Registrar is based. Between sittings, the court continues to undertake work related to its mandate. In 2017, the court undertook a review of its rules, an assignment led by Justice Dingake.
About Justice Oagile Bethuel Key Dingake
Botswana’s leading constitutional law expert, Oagile Bethuel Key Dingake is a distinguished jurist serving as a judge of the Supreme Court and the national courts of Papua New Guinea, the first African to hold the position. In 2013, he was appointed by the UN secretary-general to be a judge of the Residual Special Court of Sierra Leone, and in 2020, he became a justice of the Seychelles Court of Appeal.
Previously, Justice Dingake served as a judge of the High Court and Industrial Court of Botswana and taught law at the University of Botswana. He has been a visiting scholar at the University of Pretoria, the University of Cape Town, and the Institute of Development Labour Law in Italy.
Justice Dingake holds a PhD in law from the University of Cape Town, an LLM from the University of London, and an LLB from the University of Botswana. He also earned postgraduate certifications from the University of Oslo and the London School of Economics. An honorary professor of public law at the University of Cape Town and an adjunct professor at James Cook University, Australia, he has authored several books on law and justice. He is a leading figure in African judicial and human rights initiatives.
By Joseph Legau
Source: Mail online via Facebook
