The International Criminal Court is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague,Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide,crimes against humanity,war crimes and the crime of aggression. The ICC is distinct from the International Court of Justice,an organ of the United Nations that hears disputes between states.
International criminal law (ICL) is a body of public international law designed to prohibit certain categories of conduct commonly viewed as serious atrocities and to make perpetrators of such conduct criminally accountable for their perpetration. The core crimes under international law are genocide,war crimes,crimes against humanity,and the crime of aggression.
Thomas Lubanga Dyilo is a convicted war criminal from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and the first person ever convicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC). He founded and led the Union of Congolese Patriots (UPC) and was a key player in the Ituri conflict (1999–2007). Rebels under his command have been accused of massive human rights violations,including ethnic massacres,murder,torture,rape,mutilation,and forcibly conscripting child soldiers.
Navanethem "Navi" Pillay is a South African jurist who served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. A South African of Indian Tamil origin,Pillay was the first non-white woman judge of the High Court of South Africa. She has also served as a judge of the International Criminal Court and President of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. Her four-year term as High Commissioner for Human Rights began on 1 September 2008 and was extended an additional two years in 2012. In September 2014 Prince Zeid bin Ra'ad succeeded her in her position as High Commissioner for Human Rights. In April 2015,Pillay became the 16th Commissioner of the International Commission Against the Death Penalty. She is also one of the 25 leading figures on the Information and Democracy Commission launched by Reporters Without Borders.
Marc Perrin de Brichambaut is a French career judge and diplomat. From 2011 to 2015 he was the Secretary General of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe,and from 2015 to 2024 he was a judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague.
The Judicial Investigation Department of Costa Rica is a dependency of the Supreme Court of Justice which works in collaboration with the Public Prosecutor of Costa Rica. The department was founded in 1973. Since October 2015,its director has been Walter Espinoza Espinoza.
Fatoumata DembéléDiarra is a Malian lawyer and judge. She was a judge of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and of the International Criminal Court (ICC).
Anita Ušacka is a Latvian and international judge and legal academic. She has been a judge of the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia and of the Trial and Appeals Divisions of the International Criminal Court (ICC). She was president of the Appeals Division of the International Criminal Court in 2011/2012. She retired in 2015.
Brenda J. Hollis is an American lawyer. She was appointed by United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon as Prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone in February 2010,replacing Stephen Rapp. Hollis was the Chief Prosecutor at the Special Court and served as the lead prosecutor in the trial and appeal of the case against Charles Taylor,the former President of Liberia. Hollis previously served as the Prosecutor of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone,which replaced the Special Court in December 2013;currently James Johnson,an adjunct professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Law,serves as the Chief Prosecutor for the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone. She also serves as the Reserve International Co-Prosecutor for the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia,and works as a consultant in international criminal law and procedure.
The Presidency of the International Criminal Court is the organ responsible for the proper administration of the Court.
Ekaterina Trendafilova is a Bulgarian lawyer and judge with international and domestic experience. She is currently serving as the first President of the Kosovo Specialist Chambers –a position to which she was appointed in December 2016 for a four-year term and took her office on 12 January 2017.
Joyce Aluoch is a Kenyan lawyer who served as Judge of the International Criminal Court from 2009 until 2018. She is a former judge of the High Court of Kenya. In addition to her career as a judge,she was the First Chairperson of the Committee of African Union Experts on the Rights and Welfare of the Child and the Vice-Chairperson of the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child from 2003 to 2009. She has also served as the inaugural head of the family division of the Kenyan High Court and a member of the Court of Appeal.
The International Criminal Court investigation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo or the situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is an ongoing investigation by the International Criminal Court (ICC) into crimes committed in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) during the Second Congo War and its aftermath,including the Ituri and Kivu conflicts. The war started in 1998 and despite a peace agreement between combatants in 2003,conflict continued in the eastern parts of the country for several years. In April 2004 the government of the DRC formally referred the situation in the Congo to the International Criminal Court,and in June 2004,prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo,formally opened an investigation. To date,arrest warrants have been issued for:
Ángela Acuña Braun,also known as Ángela Acuña de Chacón,,a Costa Rican lawyer,women's rights pioneer and ambassador,was the first woman to graduate as a lawyer in Central America. Orphaned at the age of 12,she was raised by her maternal aunt and uncle,attending elementary school and beginning high school in Costa Rica. She continued her education in France and England,gaining exposure to the ideas of women's rights. Returning to Costa Rica in 1912,she published articles in support of women's equality. She attended the boys' lyceum or high school where she passed the bachillerato,a prerequisite for entering law school. She embarked on law studies in 1913,leading to a bachelor's degree in 1916. As women were barred from entering the profession,Acuña immediately presented a reform to the civil code allowing this,which was adopted.
Gabrielle Louise McIntyre (Australian) is an international legal practitioner,jurist,and served as the Chairperson of the Seychelles' Truth,Reconciliation and National Unity Commission.
Alejandra Mora Mora is a Costa Rican jurist,lawyer,professor,and politician. She has been a human rights activist,especially in the area of women's rights. She served as her country's Minister of Women's Affairs from 2014 to 2018,was president of the National Institute for Woman (INAMU),and director of the women's section of the Ombudsman's Office of Costa Rica.
Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza is a Peruvian jurist and judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague,Netherlands. Ibañez Carranza is the first Peruvian judge at the ICC. Before being elected as a judge at the ICC,she was a prosecutor and professor in Peru.
Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godínez is a prominent jurist and international lawyer from Costa Rica,and a current judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC). Before,he was a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration and served as the ambassador of Costa Rica to the Netherlands.
