The United Nations Secretary-General, António Guterres has named Carmel Agius, from Malta, to replace controversial American judge Theodor Meron from the leadership of the Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (MICT).

Agius will assume office at the beginning of next year, according to a statement from the United Nations.

Judge Agius has been serving as the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) since November 2015.

"The Secretary-General also reappointed 23 of the 24 Judges of the Mechanism who were seeking reappointment for a new, two-year term, commencing on 1 July 2018 and expiring on 30 June 2020,” reads part of a statement from the UN.  

Meron, who is behind the series of controversial rulings at the tribunal including unilateral awarding of early release to Genocide convicts, was given six months at the helm of the tribunal before he could pave way for the Maltese judge.

Several survivors, activists and scholars with knowledge on the functioning of the UN court have previously contested the reappointment of the 88-year old Meron, owing to his track record at the tribunal.