ICC Prosecutor Karim Khan to visit Ghana in October, deliver public lecture at GIMPA
Karim Khan was sworn in on 16 June 2021 for a nine-year term as Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague
The chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, Karim Asad Ahmad Khan KC, will be visiting Ghana in October 2024, his office has confirmed. Karim Khan KC took office as the lead prosecutor at the ICC on 16 June 2021 and has since then visited many jurisdictions including Venezuela, Ukraine and the United States of America.
Karim Khan KC replaced his predecessor, Fatou Bensouda, a Gambian national and lawyer, who was elected by consensus on 12 December 2011 as the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court by the Assembly of States Parties and was sworn into office on 15 June 2012.
The ICC prosecutor made his intention to visit Ghana and GIMPA in particular known to Dr Kwaku Agyeman-Budu, the dean of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) Law School and head of the African Centre of International Criminal Justice (ACICJ).
The ACICJ at GIMPA Law School recently held a summer school in the Netherlands on international criminal law for students on the GIMPA Law School Master of Laws degree (LLM) in international criminal law and justice, as well as selected Bachelor of Laws (LLB) students.
In the summer school activities, the group visited the ICC over a period of three days, from Tuesday 16 to Thursday 18 July 2024, and attended lectures on the following topics: an introduction to the ICC, the Pre-Trial Division’s role in the ICC’s judicial process, the Trial Division’s role in the ICC’s judicial process, and the Appeals Division’s role in the ICC’s judicial process.
The team also had a dialogue with Judge Solome Balungi Bossa, a Ugandan judge on the ICC who, before her election to the Court, was a member of the Court of Appeal in Uganda, which also doubles as the Constitutional Court in the judiciary of Uganda.
On day two of their visit to the International Criminal Court (ICC), the training sessions were first on “The Office of the Prosecutor: Preliminary Examinations, Investigations, Arrest Warrants and Co-operation”.
Second, “The Office of the Prosecutor: Prosecution and Litigation”, third “The Office of Public Counsel for Victims (OPCV)”, fourth “The Office of Public Counsel for Defence (OPCD)” and last “The Trust Fund for Victims”.
On the third and last day of the visit to the International Criminal Court, the team attended a hearing of the case of Prosecutor versus Mahamat Said Abdel Kani, which took place in Courtroom II.
The composition of Trial Chamber VI hearing the case includes Judge Miatta Maria Samba (president judge) Judge Socorro Flores Liera and Judge Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godínez.
During his visit to Ghana, the ICC Prosecutor will attend and deliver the keynote speech at the 2024 edition of the African Centre of International Criminal Justice Annual Eminent Public Lecture in International Criminal Justice, to be held on 15 October 2024 at GIMPA in Accra. He will also interact with and hold a special Q&A session with students on GIMPA’s LLM course in international criminal law and justice.
Profile of Karim Khan
Karim Khan KC specialised in all areas of public international law, international criminal and human rights law, sports law, international arbitration, extradition, media law and major commercial fraud cases.
He previously acted for states, individuals and victim groups. He worked as a senior Crown prosecutor at the Law Commission of England and Wales, and in the Office of the Prosecutor at the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.
In 2018 the secretary general of the United Nations, António Guterres, appointed Karim as the first special advisor and head of the United Nations team investigating international crimes committed by ISIL/Da’esh under the United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL (UNITAD).
The United Nations Investigative Team to Promote Accountability for Crimes Committed by Da’esh/ISIL was established by way of the unanimous Security Council Resolution 2379 (2017).
On 16 June 2021, Karim Khan was sworn in for a nine-year term as Chief Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.
ICC-ACICJ agreement
The International Criminal Court and the African Centre of International Criminal Justice, one of the centres led by Kwaku Agyeman-Budu at GIMPA Law School, signed a memorandum of understanding which will allow the two institutions to co-operate closely in the fight against impunity on the African continent.
The aim is to deepen understanding and appreciation of the role and work of the ICC within the international criminal law and justice architecture.
The original agreement was signed by representatives of the two institutions on 6 December 2019 in The Hague, on the sidelines of the Assembly of State Parties of the ICC, which took place that month.
The relationship between the ICC and the ACICJ, which was formalised, has led to the development of courses focusing on international criminal law (in particular the LLM/international criminal law and justice, the first course of its kind in Ghana), participation in the ICC internship programme by ACICJ students, and participation in the ICC visiting professionals programme by ACICJ students and faculty.
It also promotes the exchange of speakers and collaborative initiatives such as lectures, seminars, events, research and scholarship in the area of international criminal law.
The ACICJ
The African Centre of International Criminal Justice (ACICJ) is dedicated to growing the body of knowledge on international criminal justice, its necessity and the place of Africa within that paradigm.
The centre was conceived out of the success of the conference “International Criminal Court and Africa: A Discussion of Legitimacy, Impunity, Selectivity, Fairness and Accountability”, held at GIMPA in March 2016.
The ACICJ aims to fight impunity on the global, regional and national levels through education and the dissemination of accurate information regarding the international criminal law and justice regime generally, and the ICC in particular.
The centre is now a focal point for research, scholarship and training on the ICC and broader issues of international justice across the continent.
Reporting by Wilberforce Asare in Accra
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