KAMPALA. Former Deputy Chief Justice Richard Buteera has been elected a judge of the United Nations Appeals Tribunal (UNAT) in New York City.
Buteera secured 110 votes, emerging among the top two candidates alongside LingLing Zhang of China, in elections held during the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Buteera’s election places a Ugandan jurist at the apex of the UN’s internal justice system.
UNAT was established by the General Assembly in 2009, as part of the new UN internal justice system.
As the second level appellate review tribunal within the internal justice system, UNAT reviews, within its specific jurisdiction, appeals against judgments rendered by the UN Dispute Tribunal, the Dispute Tribunal of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), as well as appeals of decisions taken by the Standing Committee acting on behalf of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board (UNJSPB), and by those organizations, agencies and entities that accepted UNAT’s jurisdiction.
UNAT usually meets in session three times a year, in spring, summer and fall sessions, to render judgments. The sessions are held in New York, Nairobi, or Geneva (at times at other locations). UNAT consists of seven judge positions. The UNAT President usually designates three judge panels to decide each case.
Justice Butera’s election follows one of the UN’s most competitive judicial appointment processes.
According to background documents presented to the General Assembly (A/80/339), the UN received 391 applications from 79 countries, from which 107 candidates were invited to a written legal examination.
Only 38 were shortlisted for interviews, and after global vetting by national judicial bodies, the Internal Justice Council (IJC) recommended eight candidates — including Buteera — for the three vacant seats.
Judges serve a single, non-renewable seven-year term, with strict criteria requiring at least 15 years of judicial or equivalent experience, high moral character, and fluency in one of the Tribunal’s working languages.
Justice Buteera’s 110-vote tally signaled broad international confidence in his judicial integrity and extensive career, which spans the High Court, Court of Appeal, Supreme Court, and ultimately his tenure as Deputy Chief Justice of Uganda.
Buteera takes up his new office at a time when Africa’s representation in multilateral justice institutions is gaining prominence. Uganda’s own Judge Margaret Tibulya was in 2019 elected to serve on the UN Dispute Tribunal (UNDT).
Justice Buteera will officially begin his seven-year term on 1 July 2026.