The Judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) sitting in plenary have elected Judge Chile Eboe – Osuji of Nigeria as the new President of the Court for a three-year term with immediate effect.

Judge Robert Fremr from the Czech Republic was elected First Vice President while Judge Marc Perrin de Brichambaut of France was elected as 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 after the plenary.

He added: “I look forward to working with them as well as with other Judges, all the officials and the staff of the Court in a spirit of collegiality.”

“I look forward to collaborating with the Assembly of State Parties, civil society and the international community at large 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 Fernandez de Gurmendi, and Vice-Presidents, Judges Joyce Alouch and Kuniko Ozaki, for their work and leadership.”

Born in Anara, Nwangele Local Government Area of Imo State on September 2, 1962, Justice Chile Eboe-Osuji obtained his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Calabar. He obtained his Master of Laws degree from McGill University in Montreal, Canada and Doctor of Laws degree from the University of Amsterdam, Netherlands.

Author of two books and numerous law articles in International Law, Eboe-Osuji was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986 where he practiced briefly before moving to Canada in 1991 to work as a barrister and law lecturer until 2005.

He worked at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda as prosecution counsel and later as senior legal officer to the judges of the tribunal from 2005 to 2007.

He became the Legal Advisor to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in 2010 after working as senior prosecution appeal counsel for the Special Court for Sierra Leone between 2007 and 2008.

The Judge, who reclused himself as a member of the bench which tried the case involving Kenyan President, Uhuru Kenyatta and his Vice, William Ruto for crimes against humanity was elected as a judge of the ICC at the fifteenth ballot in the Assembly of States Parties on December 16, 2011.