The Center for International Law and Policy in Africa (CILPA), with the co-sponsorship of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) and the International Nuremberg Principles Academy, organised a roundtable discussion on 14 May 2021 to discuss the achievements of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and the challenges that await the next Prosecutor. The term of the current ICC Prosecutor, Ms. Fatou Bensouda (The Gambia), will end in June 2021. In February 2021, the ICC Assembly of States Parties (ASP) elected Mr. Karim Khan (UK) to replace her. The election of a new ICC Prosecutor, by an absolute majority of the ICC States Parties, is an opportunity to look back on what has been accomplished by the Office of the Prosecutor under Prosecutor Bensouda’s term.
This was the second event of the International Criminal Court Colloquium – a series dedicated specifically to advancing the scholarly debate on the work of the world’s only permanent international penal tribunal with responsibility to prosecute genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression.
The series seeks to highlight issues of particular relevance to the future success of the ICC, especially from an African perspective. The first roundtable discussion on “The ICC Prosecutor Selection Process” took place on 29 March 2021. For more information please click here.
The second roundtable discussion took place via Zoom on 14 May 2021.
Welcome and opening remarks were given by Mark D. Agrast, Executive Director, American Society of International Law; Viviane Dittrich, Deputy Director, International Nuremberg Principles Academy; and Charles C. Jalloh, CILPA and formerly Chair, ICC Panel of Experts on the Election of the Prosecutor.
The following speakers took part in the roundtable discussion:
- Talita de Souza Dias, Shaw Foundation Junior Research Fellow, University of Oxford;
- Kevin Heller, Professor of Law, University of Copenhagen and Australian National University;
- Sarah Kasande, Head of Office, International Center for Transitional Justice, Uganda;
- Alex Whiting, Deputy Prosecutor, Kosovo Specialist Prosecutor’s Office;
- Lorraine Smith van Lin, formerly Redress (Moderator).