Jose Alvarez, leading international law scholar, is appointed Special Adviser to the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court
ICC Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo today announced the appointment of Professor Jose Alvarez as his Office’s Special Advisor on International Law. “Professor Alvarez is one of the leading academics in international law,” said Prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo. “He has written extensively on the law-making powers of international organisations and on the ad hoc international war crimes tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.”
As Special Adviser to the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP), Professor Alvarez will focus on any public international law questions that arise in the course of the Prosecutor’s duties. This may include, for example, the relationship between the Security Council and the International Criminal Court.
Professor Alvarez’s appointment continues the Office’s tradition of securing advice from recognised international law experts. The OTP’s Advisory Council currently includes Professor Catharine A. MacKinnon of the University of Michigan Law School, who was appointed Special Adviser on Gender Crimes in November 2008.; Professor Juan Méndez of the American University Washington College of Law, who since June 2009 has been Special Adviser on Crime Prevention,; and Professor Tim McCormack of the Melbourne Law School whom in March 2010 was appointed as Special Advisor on International Humanitarian Law. Additionally in November 2009, Benjamin Ferencz was appointed Special Counsel to the Office of the Prosecutor and honorary member of the OTP’s advisory council. The Rome Statute mandates the Prosecutor to appoint advisers with legal expertise on specific issues, and they work on a pro bono basis.
About Jose Alvarez: Last year, Alvarez joined the NYU Law faculty as the Herbert and Rose Rubin Professor of International Law. He previously taught at the law schools of Columbia University, the University of Michigan, and George Washington University. Alvarez is a member of the Council of Foreign Relations, and from 2006 to 2008, he was president of the American Society of International Law. He has served on the National Advisory Committee of the U.N. Financing Global Policy Project, and on the editorial or advisory boards of the American Journal of International Law, Journal of International Criminal Justice, Global Governance, and the Journal of International Law and International Relations. From 1983 to 1988, Alvarez was an attorney-adviser in the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Legal Adviser. He received his undergraduate and law degrees from Harvard University, and a degree in Jurisprudence from Oxford University’s Magdalen College.
About the ICC: The International Criminal Court is an independent, permanent court that investigates and prosecutes persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
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Source: Office of the Prosecutor