The ICC holds its tenth Seminar of Counsel from 15 to 19 October 2012

The annual Seminar of Counsel, organised by the Registry of the International Criminal Court (ICC), will take place at the Kurhaus Hotel in The Hague, The Netherlands, on 15- 16 October 2012. The seminar will be followed by three additional days reserved for practical training, provided by prominent experts, on issues facing counsel representing the defence or victims before the Court.

In 2012, the ICC is commemorating the 10-year anniversary of the entry into force of the Rome Statute, its founding treaty. The Seminar, now equally in its 10th year, provides a unique platform to not only celebrate the important contribution of counsel to the mandate of the Court in its decade long practice, but also to engage in a mutually beneficial dialogue to learn from colleagues’ experiences and perspectives, and to collaboratively explore areas in need of improvement and how best to tackle existing challenges.

The Seminar will commence with the opening remarks by the President of the ICC, Judge Sang-Hyun Song and the ICC Registrar, Silvana Arbia. In addition, this year’s seminar will be honoured with the interventions of His Excellency Ambassador Christian Wenaweser, former president of the Assembly of States Parties, and Mr. Don Ferencz, President and CEO of the Planethood Foundation and Convenor of the Global Institute for the Prevention of Aggression.

Ms. Brigid Inder, Executive Director of Women's Initiatives for Gender Justice and recently appointed Special Advisor on Gender for the Chief Prosecutor of the ICC, will contribute to the discussions on principles and procedures to be applied to reparations, supported by representatives of the Trust Fund for Victims. Other panels will investigate defence issues and provide update on victims.

A copy of the agenda can be consulted here.

As in previous years, in addition to representatives of, inter alia, legal associations and ad hoc tribunals, this edition of our seminar will once again be targeted towards a most important constituency – members of the Court’s List of Counsel, created and maintained by the Registrar. At this juncture, the List of Counsel consists of more than 430 lawyers from all corners of the globe.

The Registrar of the Court would like to express her gratitude to the European Commission for its generous financial support of the 10th Seminar of Counsel and Training program.

Kindly direct any related queries concerning the above to the attention of the Counsel Support Section at: [email protected]