New ICC prosecutor Karim Khan to visit Ghana in October, deliver public lecture at GIMPA

Barely three months after assuming office as the prosecutor for the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Karim Asad Ahmad Khan QC is set to visit Ghana in the month of October.

Karim Khan QC took office on 16 June 2021. He replaced Fatou Bensouda of Gambia, who was elected by consensus on 12 December 2011 as the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court by the Assembly of States Parties and sworn into office on 15 June 2012.

The ICC prosecutor made his intention to visit Ghana known when he received Kwaku Agyeman-Budu, the head of law centres in the Law Faculty of the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA), at his office in The Hague on Wednesday (15 September 2021).

Dr Agyeman-Budu is also the host of The Forum on Asaase Radio 99.5.

Dr Agyeman-Budu’s visit was essentially to engage the new ICC leadership to secure their commitment on how to foster the relationship between the African Centre of International Criminal Justice (ACICJ) at GIMPA and the ICC.

ICC-ACICJ agreement

The International Criminal Court and the African Centre of International Criminal Justice, one of the centres led by Dr Agyeman-Budu at the GIMPA Faculty of Law, 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 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 during the ICC conference, which took place that month.

The new relationship which was instituted between the ICC and the ACICJ will lead to the development of courses focusing on international criminal law, participation in the ICC internship programme by ACICJ students, and participation in the ICC visiting professionals programme by ACICJ students and faculty.

It will also promote the exchange of speakers and collaborative initiatives such as lectures, seminars, events, research and surveys.

The agreement is for a five-year period and is subject to renewal by the two entities after the initial period lapses.

ICC commitment

In his interaction with Dr Agyeman-Budu, Karim Khan QC said that the ICC remains committed to building its relationship with the ACICJ.

To show this commitment, the prosecutor announced that he will attend and deliver the keynote speech at the 2021 edition of the ACICJ Annual Eminent Public Lecture in International Criminal Justice, to be held this coming October in Accra.

ICC president

In a separate meeting with Dr Agyeman-Budu, the president of the ICC, Judge Piotr Hofmanski, also affirmed the ICC’s position to pursue the terms of the MoU that the ICC signed with the ACICJ.

He said that, like his immediate predecessor, the Nigerian judge Chile Eboe-Osuji, he looks forward to visiting Ghana in 2022 to deliver a public lecture on international criminal justice in the annual ACICJ lecture series.

The ACICJ

The African Centre of International Criminal Justice 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 as a result 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’s aim is 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. The activities of the ACICJ are made possible with funding from the Dutch ministry of foreign affairs.

Wilberforce Asare

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