International Criminal Court: Nigerian Judge Chile Eboe- Osuji becomes new ICC president

Nigerian born Chile Eboe-Osuji has become the first Nigerian to be elected the president of the International Criminal Court,  ICC.He was elected by the court’s judges during a plenary seating on 11th March 2018.

The new ICC president was elected alongside 1st Vice President, Judge Robert Fremr from the Czech Republic and 2nd Vice President, Marc Perrin de Brichambaut of France.

Chile Eboe-Osuji was born in Anara, Nigeria on 2nd September 1962. He studied law at the University of Calabar and graduated with a first degree ( LL.B). He was called into the Nigerian Bar in 1986. He practiced briefly in Nigeria before moving to McGill University in Canada for a Masters (LLM) in Law.
Judge Chile Eboe- Osuji obtained a PhD degree in Law from the University of Amsterdam in the Neitherlands.

Professional Life

The new ICC president served as a counselor and senior legal officer to judges at the International Criminal Tribunal( ICTR) for Rwanda between 1997- 2005.
At the end of his tenure, he returned to Canada where he continued private law practice, and worked as a University lecturer.
His stay in Canada was short lived following another appointment which took him to the Special Court for Sierra Leone that same year.

From 2008 – 2010, the new ICC president again worked at the ICTR as a legal officer, and in 2010 he became the legal adviser of the United Nations High
Commission for Human Rights. He held the position until 16th December 2011 when he was named judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC).

He takes over from judge Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi, and will serve till 2021.

About the Presidency of the ICC

The President of the ICC is supervises the activities of the registry and organizes the work of the judicial divisions. The president is elected by fellow judges for a period of three years renewable once. He works alongside the first and second Vice President.

Kathy Neba Sina