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 Judge Philippe Kirsch, first president of the International Criminal Court, will be the keynote speaker for The John Marshall Law Review symposium, International Justice in the 21st Century: The Law and Politics of the International Criminal Court on April 23, 2010, as the 2010 Belle R. and Joseph H. Braun Memorial Lecturer.
The symposium will feature Judge Kirsch and leading international and American scholars and experts presenting papers and commentaries that will examine the role of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in the development of international law.
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Governed by the Rome Statute, the ICC is the first permanent, treaty based, international criminal court established to help end impunity for the perpetrators of the most serious crimes of concern to the international community. At this time, the United States is not a party to this regime. As such, the traditional role of the United States as a leader of international standards for law and justice is in peril.
This symposium will examine the impact of the ICC, the crossroads between the law and politics of international prosecutions, and re-engagement of US leadership. The symposium comes at a crucial time, as the first review conference of the ICC will be held in the summer of 2010 in Uganda, where nations of the world will gather to consider amendments to the Court's statute.
Judge Kirsch has extensive experience with international humanitarian law, international criminal law, and public international law, and was instrumental in establishment of the International Criminal Court. As the first president of the International Criminal Court, he guided the development of the Court in its early years, and it was under his leadership that the Court quickly solidified its place in international legal order as an institution of justice.
In 1998, Judge Kirsch served as chairman of the Committee of the Whole of the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court (the Rome Conference). He was also chairman of the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court (1999-2002).
Judge Kirsch’s experience in international humanitarian law includes serving as chairman of the Drafting Committee of the International Conference on the Protection of War Victims (1993), the Drafting Committee at the 26th and 27th International Conferences of the Red Cross, and the Red Crescent (1995, 1999) and related meetings.
Judge Kirsch served as chairman of the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee for the Suppression of Acts of Terrorism (1997-1999) and as chairman or president of international conferences addressing terrorism-related issues such as the suppression of unlawful acts in the contexts of international civil aviation and maritime navigation. He was also chairman of the United Nations Ad Hoc Committee that elaborated the International Convention on the Safety of United Nations and Associated Personnel (1993-1994).
Judge Kirsch appeared twice as an agent before the International Court of Justice. He has written extensively on the International Criminal Court and other international legal issues. Judge Kirsch is also a member of the Bar of the Province of Quebec.
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