NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb 28— Judges of the U.N.-backed Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone(RSCL) have elected Kenyan Supreme Court Justice Isaack Lenaola as the court’s new president.This follows a two-day plenary session focused on leadership changes and institutional reforms.The court, which carries forward the mandate of the Special Court for Sierra Leone to address crimes committed during the country’s brutal civil war, announced the leadership changes in a statement on Friday.Justice Lenaola, who had been serving as vice president of the court, was elected to a two-year renewable term as president.“Justice Isaack Lenaola, the immediate past Vice President, is now President,” RSCL said.He succeeds in steering an institution responsible for overseeing ongoing legal obligations related to the prosecution of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious violations of international humanitarian law committed during Sierra Leone’s 1991–2002 civil war.Lenaola has served as a judge of the Residual Special Court since 2013.In Kenya, he has been a judge of the Supreme Court since 2016, following his tenure as presiding judge of the Constitutional and Human Rights Division of the High Court in Nairobi.He previously served as a judge and deputy principal judge of the East African Court of Justice.Also elected were Justice Andrew Hatton as vice president and Justice Tonia Barnett as staff appeals judge.Hatton, appointed to the court in 2013, practiced law in the United Kingdom for 25 years and held part-time judicial roles before serving as an international criminal judge with the European Union Rule of Law Mission in Kosovo.He was appointed a U.K. circuit judge in 2012.Barnett, who joined the Residual Special Court in 2021, has served in Sierra Leone’s judiciary since 2017.She previously worked as a magistrate for more than a decade, including as a senior magistrate, and has been a judge of the Court of Appeal since 2020.During the plenary session, judges received briefings from the court’s registrar, prosecutor, and principal defender.They deliberated on proposed amendments to the court’s rules of procedure, a draft stocktaking report, funding matters, and the institution’s 12th annual report, covering activities in 2025.The Residual Special Court was established to continue the work of the Special Court for Sierra Leone after it formally closed in 2013.Its responsibilities include supervising prison sentences, protecting and supporting witnesses, preserving the court’s archives, and assisting national authorities with related prosecutions.The original Special Court, created jointly by the United Nations and the government of Sierra Leone, prosecuted senior leaders accused of bearing the greatest responsibility for atrocities during the civil war.The conflict was marked by widespread killings, amputations, and the use of child soldiers.