Justice Julia Sebutinde from Uganda is the new presiding Judge of the Charles Taylor Trial.

Sebutinde takes over Trial Chamber II at the Special Court for Sierra Leone from Justice Richard Lussick who ended his one-year term as Presiding Judge today.

The court rotates the position of Presiding Judge every year. This is the second time Justice Sebutinde will take over the role.

The Taylor trial is the last case before the SCSL. All other cases were held in Freetown – the capital of Sierra Leone - but Taylor's case was moved to the ICC premises in The Hague for fear that his appearance in an African courtroom could destabilise Sierra Leone and Liberia.