Press Release: 16 March 2018

ICC Presidency assigns judges to judicial divisions and Chambers

ICC-CPI-20180316-PR1370

Following the solemn undertaking of six newly elected judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on 9 March 2018 and the Presidency's election on 11 March 2018, the Presidency of the Court has assigned the judges to the three judicial divisions. The Presidency also recomposed a number of Chambers where necessary, dissolved Pre-Trial Chamber III as well as Trial Chamber V(a) and Trial Chamber V(b) and assigned the respective situations and cases currently before the Court to the remaining Chambers. The assignments as well as the re-composition of Chambers will be effective as of 20 March 2018.

The Appeals Division will be constituted of Judges Chile Eboe-Osuji, Howard Morrison, Piotr Hofmański, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza and Solomy Balungi Bossa.

The Trial Division will be constituted of Judges Robert Fremr, Olga Herrera Carbuccia, Geoffrey Henderson, Bertram Schmitt, Chang-ho Chung, Raul C. Pangalangan and Kimberly Prost. 

The Pre-Trial Division will be constituted of Judges Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua, Péter Kovács, Tomoko Akane, Reine Alapini-Gansou and Rosario Salvatore Aitala.

The situations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo; Libya; the Republic of Mali; Georgia; the Gabonese Republic and Registered Vessels of Comoros, Greece and Cambodia will be assigned to Pre-Trial Chamber I, to be composed of Judges Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, Péter Kovács and Reine Alapini-Gansou.

The situations in Central African Republic I; Central African Republic II; Republic of Uganda; Darfur, Republic of the Sudan; Republic of Kenya; Republic of Côte d'Ivoire; Islamic Republic of Afghanistan; and Republic of Burundi will be assigned to Pre-Trial Chamber II, to be composed of Judges Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua, Tomoko Akane and Rosario Salvatore Aitala.
In addition, the Trial Chambers will be composed as follows:

Trial Chamber I

  • The Prosecutor v. Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé
    • Judge Cuno Tarfusser, Presiding
    • Judge Olga Herrera-Carbuccia
    • Judge Geoffrey Henderson

Trial Chamber II

  • The Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga
  • The Prosecutor v. Thomas Lubanga Dyilo
    • Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, Presiding
    • Judge Olga Herrera-Carbuccia
    • Judge Péter Kovács

Trial Chamber III

  • The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo
    • Judge Geoffrey Henderson
    • Judge Chang-ho Chung
    • Judge Kimberly Prost

Trial Chamber IV

  • The Prosecutor v. Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain
  • The Prosecutor v. William Samoei Ruto and Joshua Arap Sang
  • The Prosecutor v. Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta
    • Judge Robert Fremr
    • Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou
    • Judge Kimberly Prost

Trial Chamber VI

  • The Prosecutor v. Bosco Ntaganda
    • Judge Robert Fremr, Presiding
    • Judge Chang-ho Chung
    • Judge Kuniko Ozaki

Trial Chamber VII

  • The Prosecutor v. Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, Aimé Kilolo Musamba, Jean-Jacques Mangenda Kabongo, Fidèle Babala Wandu and Narcisse Arido
    • Judge Bertram Schmitt, Presiding
    • Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut
    • Judge Raul C. Pangalangan

Trial Chamber VIII

  • The Prosecutor v. Ahmad Al-Faqi Al Mahdi
    • Judge Raul C. Pangalangan, Presiding
    • Judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua
    • Judge Bertram Schmitt

Trial Chamber IX

  • The Prosecutor v. Dominic Ongwen
    • Judge Bertram Schmitt, Presiding
    • Judge Péter Kovács
    • Judge Raul C. Pangalangan

Once the assignments are effective, each Division will elect a President of the respective Division from amongst its members and each newly composed Pre-Trial and Trial Chamber will elect a Presiding judge. The Appeals Chamber decides on a Presiding Judge for each appeal.

According to article 39(1) of the Rome Statute, the assignment of judges to Divisions by the Presidency is based on the nature of the functions be performed by each Division and the qualifications and experience of the elected judges, so that each division contains an appropriate combination of expertise in criminal law and procedure and in international law. The judges are assigned for three years, and thereafter until the completion of any case. The judges assigned to the Appeals Division serve exclusively in the Appeals division for their entire term.

For further information, please contact Fadi El Abdallah, Spokesperson and Head of Public Affairs Unit, International Criminal Court, by telephone at: +31 (0)70 515-9152 or +31 (0)6 46448938 or by e-mail at: [email protected]

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