Judges of the Hague-based UN war crimes tribunal elected Italian law professor Fausto Pocar as new court president today for a two-year term.
The 65-year-old succeeds Theodor Meron, who will continue as a permanent judge in the court's fourth term that began today, the court said in a statement.
In a plenary session, the Hague judges also elected Australian judge Kevin Parker as Mr Pocar's deputy.
The tribunal has 16 permanent judges including two new judges - South Africa's Bakone Justice Moloto and Belgian Christine van den Wyngaert, who were sworn in today.
The head of the tribunal presides at all plenary meetings and coordinates the work of the chambers. The tribunal for the former Yugoslavia was created by the UN Security Council in 1993.
The court originally started out with 11 judges. The terms of the permanent judges last four years, and the international court is supposed to complete all cases, including appeals, by the end of 2010.