Nigeria’s Eboe-Osuji Emerges President Of International Criminal Court

A Nigerian jurist at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has been elected president of the war crimes tribunal.Chile Eboe-Osuji, who became the first Nigerian to be elevated to the court in 2012, would serve as ICC president for the next three years.

According to report gathered by Naija News  the court said “the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC), sitting in a plenary session, elected Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji (Nigeria) as President of the Court for a three-year term with immediate effect”.

The court also elected Robert Fremr  of Czech Republic as  the first vice-president and Marc Perrin de Brichambaut of France as the second vice-president.

“I am deeply honoured to have been elected by my peers as President of the International Criminal Court. As I take up my duties, I feel encouraged that I am able to rely on the wide experience of the two Vice-Presidents, Judge Robert Fremr and Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut, both of whom I have closely worked with previously,” Eboe-Osuji said.

The 55-year-old judge, stated that

“I also look forward to collaborating with the Assembly of States Parties, civil society and the international community at large, acting together to strengthen and reinforce the Rome Statute system, the 20th anniversary of the adoption of which we celebrate this year.

“I am also grateful to the previous President, Judge Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi, and Vice-Presidents, Judges Joyce Aluoch and Kuniko Ozaki, for their work and leadership,” he added.

Eboe-Osuji graduated with a Law Degree (LL.B) from the University of Calabar in 1985, before studying for a master of laws (LL.M) at the McGill University in Canada.

See the full statement below:

“Today, 11 March 2018, the judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC), sitting in a plenary session, elected Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji (Nigeria) as President of the Court for a three-year term with immediate effect. Judge Robert Fremr(Czech Republic) was elected First Vice-President and Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut (France) Second Vice-President.”