Scottish lawyer protests dismissal from ICTR

The Law Society of Scotland is to seek a report from the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) regarding the dismissal last week of a Scottish defence lawyer working at the tribunal, a spokeswoman from the society told IRIN on Thursday. She said the report would be assessed by members of the Law Society and that action would be taken as required. Andrew McCartan, lead counsel for genocide suspect Joseph Nzirorera, was dismissed by the registrar of the ICTR on 6 February on grounds of “financial dishonesty”. Evidence had been found of inflation of legal bills in October and November 2000 and other financial irregularities, the ICTR said in a statement issued last week. A spokesman for the court, Kingsley Moghalu, told IRIN that McCartan had also been involved in a fee-splitting arrangement with his client, which he had admitted to and which was the subject of a report that had not been released to the public. McCartan, who is appealing against the decision, told IRIN on Friday that he denies the charges, “in as strong a manner as is possible”. He said that it ill-behoved a body such as the International Criminal Tribunal to treat an employee “in a high-handed, non-humanitarian way”. Referring to the manner in which he had been dismissed, he said: “Where was the investigation? Why were the accusations not put to me?” McCartan, whose practice is in Forres, Morayshire, was assigned to Nzirorera almost two years ago. Nzirorera faces charges of genocide and crimes against humanity committed during the 1993-4 genocide in Rwanda, when 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus were killed. ICTR defence lawyers receive between US $80-110 per hour in legal fees, and can claim up to 175 hours per month.