Nationality: Mali (African States)
Term: 11 March 2003 - 31 May 2014
Elected from: List A on 7 February 2003
Biography
Judge as of 11 March 2003, for a term of nine years. Elected from the African Group of States, list A.
Judge Diarra (1949) has a certificat de licence en droit (LLB) from Dakar University, a maîtrise en droit privé (LLM in private law) from the Mali École Nationale d'Administration (French National College of Public Administration). She is a graduate of the École Nationale de la Magistrature (French National School for the Judiciary) in Paris and holds a diploma in the Implementation of Regional and International Standards for the Protection of Human Rights. Immediately prior to her election to the ICC, she was serving as an ad litem judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. Before this she had been National Director of the Mali Justice Department, President of the Criminal Chamber of Bamako Appeals Court, President of the Assize Court, as well as an Examining Magistrate and Deputy Public Prosecutor. Judge Diarra's civil society positions have included those of Vice-President of the International Federation of Women in Legal Careers (IFWLC), Vice-President of the African Women Jurists' Federation, President of the Association des Juristes Maliennes (the Malian Women Jurists' Association) and President of the Observatoire des Droits de la Femme et de l'Enfant (Women's and Children's Rights Monitoring Body). She is the President and founder of the Pro Bono Center for women and children in Mali. Judge Diarra has published several articles and carried out several studies including one on three branches of law: family, national and international. Furthermore, she has worked with the ICRC on humanitarian law and with the Agence de la Francophonie (Agency for the Francophone World) within the framework of the Preparatory Committee on the draft Rules of Procedure and Evidence and on the definition of the Elements of Crimes which fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC. She chaired the Preparatory Committee on the participation of Mali at the Beijing Summit in 1995.
