Robin Vincent, CMG,

CBE The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(27 February 1944 – 12 June 2011) was an international expert in the

administration of justice The administration of justice is the process by which the legal system of a government is executed. The presumed goal of such an administration is to provide justice for all those accessing the legal system. Australia In ''Attorney General for ...

and a major contributor to the creation and effective functioning of international criminal tribunals.

Career

He started his career in 1962 in the British court system as a court administrator in Worcester County. He later served in the Lord Chancellor’s Department Headquarters as Head of the Court Service Development, and Head of the Personnel and Judicial Appointments Divisions. In 1993, he became Regional Director for the

North West of England North West England is one of nine official regions of England and consists of the ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial counties of Cheshire, Cumbria, Greater Manchester, Lancashire and Merseyside. The North West had a population of 7,4 ...

, and in that capacity, he served as a member of the Court Service Board for

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. In 2000, the British Council and the UK Department for International Development appointed him to provide training in court administration for the Russian Judicial Department in

Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...

and southern

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

. From January 2002, at the request of the

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, Robin Vincent participated in the preparations for the establishment of the

Special Court for Sierra Leone The Special Court for Sierra Leone, or the "Special Court" (SCSL), also called the Sierra Leone Tribunal, was a judicial body set up by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations to "prosecute persons who bear the greatest responsibi ...

(SCSL), and, on 10 June 2002, he was appointed as its first Registrar. In that capacity, he advocated for the institution of a principal defender office to strengthen the role of the defense in international tribunals and supported an innovative outreach program that has since become a model for other tribunals. After leaving the SCSL in October 2005, Robin Vincent served as Deputy Registrar of the

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

in 2006. Also in 2006, he advised the US Regime Crimes Liaison Office on the functioning of the

Iraqi High Tribunal The Iraqi High Tribunal (IHT), formerly the Iraqi Special Tribunal and sometimes referred to as the Supreme Iraqi Criminal Tribunal, is a body established under Iraqi national law to try Iraqi nationals or residents accused of genocide, crimes ag ...

. In 2007, Robin Vincent served as expert adviser to the

Secretary-General of the United Nations The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

on matters about the operational efficiency of the

Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia The Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC; ; ), commonly known as the Cambodia Tribunal or Khmer Rouge Tribunal (), was a court established to try the senior leaders and the most responsible members of the Khmer Rouge for alle ...

, and authored the report “Administrative Practices Manual for Internationally Assisted Criminal Justice Institutions” published by the

International Center for Transitional Justice The International Center for Transitional Justice (ICTJ) was founded in 2001 as a non-profit organization dedicated to pursuing accountability for mass atrocity and human rights abuse through transitional justice mechanisms. ICTJ officially open ...

(ICTJ). In 2007, Robin Vincent was also named by the

to lead the advance team working on the establishment of the

Special Tribunal for Lebanon The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), also referred to as the Lebanon Tribunal or the Hariri Tribunal, was a tribunal of international character that was active between 2009 and 2023. It applied Lebanese criminal law under the authority of ...

(STL) and, in March 2008, was appointed as its Registrar. He served as STL Registrar until June 2009. Robin Vincent was invested as a

Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

and a Companion of the Most Distinguished

Order of St Michael and St George The Most Distinguished Order of Saint Michael and Saint George is a British order of chivalry founded on 28 April 1818 by George, Prince of Wales (the future King George IV), while he was acting as prince regent for his father, King George III ...

Queen Elizabeth II Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 19268 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. ...

in 2001 and 2006, respectively. He also received an honorary degree for services rendered to national and international justice by the

University of Worcester The University of Worcester is a public research university, based in Worcester, England. With a history dating back to 1946, the university began awarding degrees in 1997 and was granted full university status in 2005. History In 1946 an Emerg ...

in 2007.

Lectures

''The Administrative Challenges to Be Faced in Setting Up an International War Crimes Court and the Lessons Learned''
in th

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Vincent, Robin 1944 births 2011 deaths Civil servants in the Lord Chancellor's Department Companions of the Order of St Michael and St George Commanders of the Order of the British Empire British officials of the United Nations