Swearing in of Judges and Election of the New Presidency at the ICC

Five judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) were sworn in at a ceremony held at the seat of the Court in The Hague on 9 March 2012. Judges Howard Morrison (United Kingdom), Anthony T. Carmona (Trinidad and Tobago), Olga Herrera Carbuccia (Dominican Republic), Robert Fremr (Czech Republic) and Chile Eboe-Osuji (Nigeria) were elected by the ICC’s Assembly of States Parties  (ASP) in December 2011 for nine-year terms. Judge Miriam Defensor-Santiago (Republic of the Philippines), who was also elected in December, was unavailable due to personal circumstances, so the solemn undertaking for her will take place at a later date.

In accordance with article 45 of the Rome Statute, the swearing-in ceremony was held in open court. Each judge made a solemn undertaking before the President of the ASP, Ms. Tiina Intelmann, stating: “I solemnly undertake that I will perform my duties and exercise my powers as a judge of the International Criminal Court honourably, faithfully, impartially and conscientiously, and that I will respect the confidentiality of investigations and prosecutions and the secrecy of deliberations”. For more information on this event see here.

On 11 March the judges of the Court re-elected Judge Sang-Hyun Song (Republic of Korea) as President of the Court for a three-year term with immediate effect. Judge Sanji Mmasenono Monageng (Botswana) was elected First Vice-President and Judge Cuno Tarfusser (Italy) Second Vice-President. The Presidency – consisting of the President and the two Vice-Presidents – plays a key role in providing strategic leadership to the ICC as a whole. The Presidency coordinates with the other organs and seeks the concurrence of the Prosecutor on matters of mutual concern. In accordance with the Rome Statute, the ICC’s governing treaty, the Presidency is responsible for the proper administration of the Court, with the exception of the Office of the Prosecutor. It oversees the activities of the Registry and provides input into a broad range of administrative policies affecting the Court’s overall functioning. Furthermore it conducts judicial review of certain decisions of the Registrar and concludes Court-wide cooperation agreements with States and international organizations. For more information see here and here.