Nigeria’s Eboe-Osuji elected ICC president

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has elected Nigeria’s Chile Eboe-Osuji as the president of the international court in Netherlands.

Eboe-Osuji graduated with a Law Degree (LL.B) from the University of Calabar in 1985, before studying for a master of laws (LL.M) at the McGill University in Canada.

In a correspondence received by TheCable, the court said “the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC), sitting in a plenary session, elected Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji (Nigeria) as President of the Court for a three-year term with immediate effect”.

The court also elected Robert Fremr  of Czech Republic as  the first vice-president and Marc Perrin de Brichambaut of France as the second vice-president.

“I am deeply honoured to have been elected by my peers as President of the International Criminal Court. As I take up my duties, I feel encouraged that I am able to rely on the wide experience of the two Vice-Presidents, Judge Robert Fremr and Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, both of whom I have closely worked with previously,” Eboe-Osuji said.

Born in Imo, the 55-year-old judge, also added that he was looking forward to working together with all the judges, all the officials and the staff of the Court in a spirit of collegiality.

“I also look forward to collaborating with the Assembly of States Parties, civil society and the international community at large, acting together to strengthen and reinforce the Rome Statute system, the 20th anniversary of the adoption of which we celebrate this year.

“I am also grateful to the previous President, Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, and Vice-Presidents, Judges Joyce Aluoch and Kuniko Ozaki, for their work and leadership,” he added.

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.

The presidency oversees the activities of the Registry and provides input into a broad range of administrative policies affecting the Court’s overall functioning.