Results of the Election of a Representative of Counsel from the List of Counsel to the Advisory Committee on Legal Texts

In accordance with Regulation 3.2(f) of the Regulations of the Registry, the Registrar is pleased to announce the results of the recent election of a representative of counsel from the Court’s List of Counsel to the Advisory Committee on Legal Texts.

In conformity with Regulation 3.2 of the Regulations of the Registry, in order to elect a representative of counsel included in the Court’s list of counsel, on 29 April 2009, a panel designated by the Registrar to count the ballots provided by counsel met at the seat of the Court to proceed with its task. The panel was composed of:

• Mr. Didier Daniel Preira, Deputy Registrar, ICC
• Mr. Jeroen Brouwer, representative of the Netherlands Bar Association, who acted as Chairperson of the panel 
• Mr. Xavier Jean-Keïta, Principal Counsel, Office of Public Counsel for Defence, ICC 
• M. Sam S. Shoamanesh, ad interim Chief, Defence Support Section, ICC in the absence of Mr. Esteban Peralta-Losilla, Chief of the Section 
• Ms. Maria Victoria Yazji, representative of the Principal Counsel of the Office of Public Counsel for Victims, ICC 
• Mr. Abdoul Aziz Mbaye, Associate Legal Officer, Defence Support Section.

The mandate of the Advisory Committee on Legal Texts is defined in Regulation 4 of the Regulations of the Court, stipulating that the aforementioned Committee examines the proposals for amendments to the Rules of the Procedure and Evidence, Elements of Crimes and the Regulations of the Court, submitting a report containing the recommendations to a plenary session of the Court’s judges. The Committee can also consider and report on any matter referred to it by the Presidency of the Court.

The election was called, according to Regulation 3 of the Regulations of the Registry, on 19 December 2008, and all counsel admitted to the Court’s List of Counsel on that date were called upon to announce their candidacy within thirty calendar days of the date of dispatch of the letter. Ten (10) counsel presented their candidacy by the stipulated date. On 12 February 2009, the list of candidates and the relevant instructions were sent to all persons enlisted in the Court’s List of Counsel, stipulating that counsel have thirty calendar days of the date of dispatch to present their vote for one of the candidates in accordance with Regulation 3.2(b) of the Regulations of the Registry.

104 envelopes containing the marked “Ballot” were received by the set deadline, 9 of which have been postmarked after the expiry of the deadline, therefore in view of the instructions provided to counsel about the modalities of the votes, the panel considered them invalid after having verified each envelope and their date of dispatch (postmark or receipt of the courier operator being proof thereof). The panel opened the remaining envelopes and after this verification process, the panel considered 15 votes invalid due to the fact that the confidentiality of the vote was not respected by the voters. The panel then proceeded to open the ballot envelopes and counted the votes. 80 votes were counted, with the following results. Their count generated one abstention vote as well as an irregularity. The latter vote was considered null and void.

The candidate elected by the members of the List of Counsel is Mr. Kenneth Gallant. He will serve as a representative of counsel from the List of Counsel to the Advisory Committee on Legal Texts for a period of three years. As previous representative of counsel on the Committee, Prof. Gallant is entitled a second and last term in accordance with Regulation 3.3 of the Regulations of the Registry.

The Registry of the Court benefits from this occasion to renew its congratulations to the elected candidate and thanks all counsel who participated in this important election.