[JURIST] Members of the UN Security Council [official website] approved a resolution Monday to extend the terms of some judges serving on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) [official website] to allow them to complete their assigned cases. The resolution, which was unanimously approved, will extend the terms of four Appeals Chamber judges to the end of 2010 and the terms of 10 Trial Chamber judges, 14 temporary judges now serving on the tribunal and another 13 temporary judges not currently serving on the tribunal to the end of 2009. This resolution complements a February resolution [Res. 1800 text; JURIST report] authorizing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to appoint four additional judges to the ICTY in an effort to try all defendants by the end of 2008. The UN News Centre has more.

Under the ICTY's completion strategy [ICTY materials], all trials are to finish this year, and all appeals are scheduled to conclude by the end of 2010. In 2005, ICTY officials expressed concern [JURIST report] that the ICTY would miss the 2008 deadline to wrap up all of the criminal trials, blaming Serbian, Bosnian and Croatian leaders for failing to turn over key fugitives.