The International Criminal Court (ICC), said on Monday, 11 March 2024, that “in a plenary session”, has elected Judge Tomoko Akane as President of the Court, Judge Rosario Salvatore Aitala as First Vice-President and Benin’s Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou as the Second Vice-President.
These members of the Presidency will serve for “a three-year term with immediate effect,” the statement added.
“I am deeply honoured to have been elected by my fellow judges to serve as President of the International Criminal Court”.
“At this challenging time for the Court, stable, collaborative and unified leadership is required. I will focus on fostering dialogue amongst the organs of the Court, and defence and victims’ representatives, as well as in reinforcing the dialogue with States Parties and States that have not yet ratified the Rome Statute. I will also prioritise the security and well-being of the Court’s personnel”, said newly-elected ICC President Akane.
The Presidency – consisting of the President and the two Vice-Presidents – plays a key role in providing strategic leadership to the ICC as a whole. The Presidency coordinates with the other organs and seeks the concurrence of the Prosecutor on matters of mutual concern. By the Rome Statute, the ICC’s governing treaty, the Presidency is responsible for the proper administration of the Court, except for the Office of the Prosecutor.
The Presidency will oversee the activities of the Registry and provide input into a broad range of administrative policies affecting the Court’s overall functioning.
It will conduct judicial review of certain decisions of the Registrar and conclude Court-wide cooperation agreements with States and international organizations.
Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou, (Benin)
Current chamber: Pre-Trial Chamber A, Trial Chamber IV, Pre-Trial Chamber I, Trial Chamber I
Biography
Judge as of 11 March 2018, for a term of nine years.
Prior to joining the ICC in 2018, Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou spent 12 years at the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), as Chair of the Commission (2009-2012), and as Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders in Africa (2005- 2009 and 2012 -2017).
She has been a member of several United Nations commissions of inquiries on human rights violations, and chaired the joint working group on special procedures of the United Nations and the African Commission on human and people’s rights. In 2011, she was appointed as judge at the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Author or co-author of several publications, she has been a professor at the University of Abomey – Calavi, in Benin. She holds a joint post-graduate degree (DEA) from the Universities of Maastricht (Netherlands), Lomé (Togo) and Bhutan as well as a university degree in Common Law from the University of Lyon 3 (France). She also obtained a Master’s Degree in Business Law and Judicial Careers from the National University of Benin.
She has also obtained several diplomas in the area of international human rights law (1993-2002) at the African Institute of Human Rights in Banjul, René Cassin Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France; and the International Development Law Organization (IDLO) in Rome.
Judge Alapini-Gansou was admitted to the Benin Bar in 1986. She worked for the Association Avocats Sans Frontières (ASF) Belgium on the project “Justice for all in Rwanda” in 2001.
She is also a member of the International Criminal Bar.
