Kenya's Supreme Court Judge Isaac Lenaola has been elected president of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone during a judges' plenary in The Hague, Netherlands. The election took place over a two-day session, succeeding his previous role as vice president. Lenaola, a judge at the court since 2013, will serve a renewable two-year term.
Justice Isaac Lenaola, a Supreme Court judge in Kenya since 2016, was elected president of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone (RSCSL) on February 27, 2026. The election occurred during a two-day plenary session of the court's judges in The Hague, Netherlands, and he will serve a renewable two-year term, following his prior role as vice president.
Lenaola joined Kenya's judiciary in 2003 and has served as an RSCSL judge since 2013. Prior to his Supreme Court appointment, he was the presiding judge of the Constitutional and Human Rights Division at the High Court in Milimani, Nairobi. He also acted as a judge and deputy principal judge at the East African Court of Justice from 2011 to 2018.
At the same session, the judges selected British Justice Andrew Hatton as vice president and Sierra Leone's Justice Tonia Barnett as staff appeals judge. Hatton has been an RSCSL judge since 2013, with prior experience as a lawyer in the United Kingdom and as an international criminal judge in the European Union's Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo. Barnett joined in 2021 after serving as a magistrate and Court of Appeal judge in Sierra Leone.
The plenary addressed key issues, including proposed rule amendments, a draft stocktaking report, funding concerns, and the court's 12th Annual Report for 2025. The RSCSL continues the work of the former Special Court for Sierra Leone, which concluded its mandate in December 2013, handling tasks such as supervising prison sentences, witness protection, archive preservation, and support for national prosecutions.
This election enhances Kenya's role in international judicial bodies.
