On November 29, 2012, in the presence of students and professors, the Faculty of Law at the Holy Spirit University of Kaslik organized a lecture entitled: “Proceedings Before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, Within the Context of the Development of International Criminal Procedure”, given by Judge Robert Roth, Presiding Judge of the Trial Chamber at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL).

Prior to the lecture, Ms. Maria Kamouh stated that Mr. Roth had been teaching international criminal law and criminal procedure since 2005, and had prepared many studies on criminal procedure before being elected the Presiding Judge of the Trial Chamber at the STL. He had been teaching at the University of Geneva since 1987, was the Presiding Judge at the Court of Appeal in Geneva district since 1992 and was the Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Geneva from 2003 till 2007.

Afterwards, the Administrator and Academic Secretary at the Faculty of Law at USEK, Rev. Fr. Talal Hachem, took the floor and focused on the increasing importance of criminal law on an international level. He added that the Human Rights Center at the Faculty had given the International Criminal Justice great importance since the latter aims to protect victims and abolish impunity in the world.

The Presiding Judge of the Trial Chamber at the STL, Robert Roth explained Proceedings before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon within the context of the development of international criminal procedure. He started by examining the development of the procedures before trial chambers at international tribunals, which established a balance for the Civil Law system at the expense of the Anglo-Saxon Law system.

He added that modern procedures had become accusatory; therefore, the debate nowadays tackles the adversarial proceedings adopted by the STL, whereas the opposite type is the non-adversarial proceedings, which only tackles one issue. He considered that the STL is ‘hybrid par excellence’ due to its legal system, which ranges between the Anglo-Saxon and the French traditions.