Who Are the Judges?

The International Criminal Court's First Bench
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The first 18 judges of the International Criminal Court were elected in February 2003 by the Assembly of States Parties and sworn into office at a gala celebration in The Hague on March 11, 2003. All 18 judges hail from countries rated as "Free" by the non-profit Freedom House. They represent every region of the world, include experts on both criminal law and international law, and consist of seven women and 11 men.

From among their ranks, the judges elected Judge Philippe Kirsch of Canada to serve as the President of the ICC.  Judges serve nine-year non-renewable terms (though the terms of the first bench are staggered; in the future, six judges will be elected every three years).  Judges are assigned either to the trial chambers or else the appellate chamber; they are not allowed to cross over.  If a judge fails to uphold his or her duty or demonstrates impartiality, he or she can be removed by a vote of the Assembly of States Parties.

Credentials of the Judges:

• Rene Blattmann (Bolivia): Minister of Justice and Human Rights (1994-1997), professor of criminal law; 

• Maureen Harding Clark (Ireland): ad litem judge for the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, criminal prosecutor since 1985, criminal defense attorney 1976-1985, expertise in gender crimes and victims' rights; 

• Fatoumata Dembele Diarra (Mali): ad litem judge for the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, National Director of the Administration of Justice (1999-2001), President of the Criminal Chamber of the Bamako Court of Appeal (1996-1999); 

• Adrian Fulford (United Kingdom): Judge in the Crown Court since 1996, senior prosecutor of criminal cases, co-author of leading legal textbooks; 

• Karl T. Hudson-Phillips (Trinidad and Tobago): Attorney-General and Minister for Legal Affairs (1969-1973), Member of Parliament (1966-1976), private practice throughout the Commonwealth Caribbean countries since 1959; 

• Claude Jorda (France): President of the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, Prosecutor-General in Appeals Courts (1985-1994); 

• Hans-Peter Kaul (Germany): German negotiator of the ICC's Rome Statute, Director of the Office for Public International Law, diplomat; 

• Philippe Kirsch (Canada): Chaired the Rome Conference establishing the ICC, Canadian ambassador and agent before the International Court of Justice, diplomat; 

• Erkki Kourula (Finland): Director General for Legal Affairs within the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Finnish agent before the European Court of Human Rights and the European Court of Justice, professor and researcher of law; 

• Akua Kuenyehia (Ghana): Acting Director and Dean of the Ghana School of Law, professor of law, expert on women's rights; 

• Elizabeth Odio Benito (Costa Rica): Judge for the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (1993-1998), Attorney-General, Minister of Justice, law professor for over 25 years; 

• Gheorghios M. Pikis (Cyprus): President of the Supreme Court of Cyprus since 1996, ad hoc judge for the European Court of Human Rights (1993 and 1997), lawyer and judge since 1961; 

• Navanethem Pillay (South Africa): President of the UN tribunal for Rwanda, acting judge of the High Court of South Africa, in practice since 1967; 

• Mauro Politi (Italy): ad litem judge for the UN tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, professor of international law, Italian delegate to the Rome Conference; 

• Tuiloma Neroni Slade (Samoa): Ambassador to the UN and the U.S., Attorney-General of Samoa, Samoan delegate to the Rome Conference, in practice since 1967; 

• Sang-hyun Song (Republic of Korea): Professor of law, military prosecutor and judge (1964-1967), in practice since 1964; 

• Sylvia H. de Figueiredo Steiner (Brazil): Appeals Court Judge since 1995, federal prosecutor since 1982, Brazilian delegate to ICC negotiations; and 

• Anita Usacka (Latvia): Constitutional Court Judge since 1996, law professor. 

Diversity of the Judges: