ICC hosts the Drafting Committee for an association of counsel

The Principals of the three organs of the International Criminal Court ("ICC" or the "Court") held a meeting on 17 September 2015 with the Drafting Committee for an association of counsel.  The Committee, which was met by the ICC President, Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi together with Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda and Registrar Herman von Hebel, consists of experienced lawyers from, inter alia, the List of Counsel of the ICC as well as the Principal Counsel of the Offices of Public Counsel for the Defence and Victims, who have been working on a draft constitution for an association of counsel.  

The Chairman of the Drafting Committee, Mr Michael Karnavas, provided an update on the work undertaken since the Committee was established following a consultative expert conference organised by the Registrar in March 2015 at the seat of the Court.  He further informed the Principals of the Court that the draft constitution has been circulated to all members of the ICC List of Counsel for input. The Committee hopes to finalise its constitution in the near future after extensive consultations with the Court.

President Fernández de Gurmendi thanked the Committee for their work and stressed the importance of establishing an association of counsel through an inclusive and comprehensive process that involves all lawyers admitted to the List of Counsel. She also stated that an association of counsel will need to be recognised by the Assembly of States Parties.

All questions relating to the work of the Drafting Committee should be addressed to Mr Michael Karnavas ([email protected]).