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Honorable Lady Justice Solomy B. Bossa | |
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| Judge of the International Criminal Court | |
| Assumed office 11 March 2018 [1] | |
| Nominated by | Uganda |
| Appointed by | Assembly of States Parties |
| Personal details | |
| Born | 14 April 1956 |
| Alma mater | Makerere University Law Development Centre Commonwealth Youth Centre University of London |
Solome Balungi Bossa (also Hon. Lady Justice Solomy B. Bossa; born 14 April 1956) is a Ugandan judge on the International Criminal Court. Prior to her election to the court,she was a member of the Court of Appeal in Uganda,which also doubles as the Constitutional Court in the Judiciary of Uganda. She was elected to a nine-year term on 5 December 2017 [2] [3] and was sworn in on 9 March 2018. [1] Previously she was appointed to a six-year term on the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights in 2014.
Solome Bossa was born on 14 April 1956 in Nsambya Hospital,in Uganda's capital city of Kampala. [4] Her father,Stanley Walusimbi Ssesanga,was a lawyer and her mother was a housewife. [5] [6]
Bossa attended Ugandan schools for her primary and secondary school education. In 1976,she was admitted to Makerere University,in Kampala,to study law. She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 1979. She obtained a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre in Kampala. In 1987,she obtained a Certificate in Law Reporting,from the Commonwealth Youth Centre,in Lusaka,Zambia. Later,in 2016,she was awarded a Master of Laws (LLM) degree,by the University of London,specializing in Public International Law. [7] [8]
Bossa has been a human rights activist since 1980 and founded non-profit organisation including the East African Centre for Constitutional Development,the Uganda Network on HIV,AIDS,Ethics and the Law and the Uganda Law Society. [9] [4]
Bossa was a lecturer at the Law Development Centre of Uganda from 1981 until 1997. [9] She was a legal practitioner from 1988 until 1997,representing indigent women and expanding legal aid,including serving as president of the Uganda Law Society. [10]
She served as Judge at the Uganda High Court from 1997 until 2013. Bossa was a member of the East African Court of Justice for five years,from 2001 until 2006. She was a member of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (UNICTR) from 2003 until 2013. [7] [8] [6] [9] Bossa was a judge on the East African Court of Justice from 2001 until 2006 and on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda from 2003 until 2013. [9] She was appointed to the Ugandan Constitutional Court in 2013. [6] In 2014,Bossa was elected Judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples’Rights,for a six-year term. [11]
In 2014,Bossa was one of the judges who annulled Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act for not being passed with the required quorum. [12] She received death threats on social media. [13]
In 2017,Bossa became a nominee for the International Criminal Court and was elected later that year. [10]
In June 2025,she was among the 4 judges of the International Criminal Court who were sanctioned by the Trump administration. She along with her colleague,judge Ibanez Carranza,was targeted for being one of the 5 judges of the Appeals chamber that in 2020 authorized the ICC Prosecutor to continue investigating the situation in Afghanistan,including US and NATO personnel - the move which was opposed by the US. [14]
Bossa has been married to Joseph Bossa,a lawyer and Uganda People's Congress politician,since 1981. She is the mother of four children. [5] [15]
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