Date of initial election to the judicial roster: 20 December 2011
Current term: 1 July 2024 – 30 June 2026
Judge Joseph E. Chiondo Masanche has been a Judge of the Mechanism since it commenced operations in July 2012. In this capacity, he has adjudicated a variety of matters, including as a Single Judge, a member of the Trial Chamber in the Stanišić & Simatović case, and a member of the Appeals Chamber in the Ngirabatware review proceedings. He is currently one of three Judges assigned on a rotating basis as duty Judge for the Mechanism’s Arusha Branch.
Prior to becoming a Judge of the Mechanism, Judge Masanche served as an ad litem Judge of the ICTR from 2009 to 2011. He was a member of Trial Chamber II of the ICTR and sat on the Kanyarukiga and Hategekimana cases, among others.
Earlier in his career, Judge Masanche worked within the Tanzanian judiciary in various capacities from 1970 onwards, including most recently as a Judge of the High Court of Tanzania (1989-2008) and Judge-In-Charge (1997-2008), and previously as Resident Magistrate (1970-1989) and District Registrar (1980-1982). Judge Masanche was also a Lecturer of the Faculty of Law at the Tumaini University College, Iringa Campus, Tanzania (2009).
Judge Masanche holds a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of East Africa, Tanzania (1970). He is an Advocate of the High Court of Tanzania and a member of several professional associations, including the International Council of Jurists, the European Forum for Victim - Offender Mediation and Restorative Justice, and the World Society of Victimology. Judge Masanche is fluent in English and Swahili.