Uganda's Hon. Lady Justice Bossa Elected to ICC Judgeship
Justice Solome Bossa, second left, poses in New York on Tuesday with Uganda's Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Adonia Ayebare, second right, and Ms Mirjam Blaak, Uganda's envoy to the European Union.
Kampala. Hon. Lady Justice Solome Balungi Bossa, a Justice of the Court of Appeal, was elected to be a Judge at the International Criminal Court.
The Assembly of the State Parties sitting in New York, the United States, on December 5, 2017 elected Hon. Lady Justice Bossa,as ICC judge after four rounds of voting.
After round one, Hon. Lady Justice Bossa emerged third with 67 votes, and had to go into the next round, which she topped with 71 votes but did not get the minimum 79 votes required. Hon. Lady Justice Bossa (81 votes) and Benin' s candidate Alapini-Gansou Reine hit the mark in the 4th round of voting, to join the ICC judges list.
ICC member states had nominated 12 candidates for election to six vacant judicial positions at The Hague-based Court. ICC member states of Lesotho, Uganda, Croatia, Mongolia, Benin,Japan, Bosnia, Peru, Uruguay, Canada, Ghana and Italy were nominated.
Uganda's Permanent Representative to the UN Adonio Ayebare confirmed the result late Tuesday. "Glad to announce the election of Hon. Lady Justice Balungi Bossa of Uganda as Judge of the ICC. Thank you team Uganda," he tweeted.
The election of Judges at the 16th Assembly of States Parties (ASP) session in New York follows the Court's regular judicial election process, which replaces a third of the 18 judges' bench every three years. The new judges will serve a nine-year term from March 2018.
Hon. Lady Justice Bossa's Journey to ICC
Uganda nominated Court of Appeal Justice, Hon. Lady Justice Solome Balungi Bossa as its candidate for the post of judge of the ICC in Addis Ababa during the 28th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union.
Hon. Lady Justice Bossa is a highly accomplished judge with over 27 years of legal and judicial work experience at national, regional and international level.
She holds a Bachelor of Laws Degree (LL.B)Honors from Makerere University. She is a candidate for a Master of Laws Degree(LL.M) from the University of London. She has received various national, regional and inter-national awards in recognition of her distinguished services as a legal practitioner, judge and human rights activist.
Making of a Judge at ICC
The International Criminal Court consist of 18 judges, organised into three chambers the Pre-Trial Chamber, Trial Chamber and Appeals Chamber which carry out the judicial functions of the Court. Judges are elected to the Court by the Assembly of States Parties. They serve nine-year terms and are not generally eligible for re-election. All judges must be nationals of states parties to the Rome Statute, and no two judges may be nationals of the same state. They must be "persons of high moral character, impartiality and integrity who possess the qualifications required in their respective States for appointment to the highest judicial offices".
The ICC was created by the 2002 Rome Statuteto try cases of genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Posted 6th, December 2017
