Philippe Kirsch

Philippe Kirsch QC OC ( born April 1, 1947 in Namur, Belgium ) is a Canadian lawyer and diplomat. From 2003 to 2009 he was a judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague and in that time its president.

Life

Kirsch, who was born in Belgium, moved at the age of 14 years with his parents to Canada. He obtained in 1966 a bachelor's degree at the College Stanislas in Montreal, and then studied law at the University of Montreal, where he 1969, the licentiate and in 1972 a Master of Laws with a thesis on Le régime applicable à l' exploitation of ressources minérales des grands fonds marins acquired. In 1970 he was admitted to the bar of Quebec.

After joining the diplomatic service of his native country in 1972, Cherry worked for Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade, first at the Canadian Embassy in Peru, the Canadian UN Mission in New York and the name of the United States Department of the Canadian Ministry. Subsequently, he was from 1983 to 1988 Head of Legal Operations at the Canadian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and then went to New York, where he represented Canada as a permanent representative at the United Nations. In 1992, he again received a post in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, this time as Director General of the Bureau of Legal Affairs and in 1994 he was appointed Assistant Deputy Minister for Legal and Consular Affairs. Cherry was the official representative of his home country several times before the International Court of Justice ( ICJ) in The Hague, and in one case, ad hoc judge at the ICJ. From 1999 to 2003 he was Canadian Ambassador to Sweden.

Cherry is closely connected with the history of the International Criminal Court in The Hague. He was in July 1998 session chairman at the Conference in Rome for the establishment of the Court, which resulted in the adoption of the Rome Statute, and managed from 1999 to 2002, the Preparatory Commission. Cherry was sworn in as one of the first 18 judges on March 11, 2003 and beyond elected President of the Court. He held until 2009 this office.

Kirsch is a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

Awards and Affiliations

For his merits Cherry has won several awards. So he was in 1988 appointed Queen's Counsel in 1999, he received the Robert S. Litvack Human Rights Memorial Award, the same year the Minister of Foreign Affairs ' Award for Foreign Policy Excellence and the 2001 William J. Butler Human Rights Medal Award. On 4 November 2009 he was nominated for his contributions to international criminal law, in particular as President of the International Criminal Court, an Officer of the Order of Canada.

Kirsch is Chairman of the Canadian Committee for International Humanitarian Law and a board member of the Canadian Council of International Law. He is also a member of the American Society of International Law. Since 2005 it belongs to the Institut de Droit International at.

Publications (selection )

  • The Rome Conference on an International Criminal Court: the negotiating process. By John T. Holmes cherry. In: American journal of international law. Vol 93, No 1, 1999 ISSN 0002-9300, pp. 2-12.
  • The International Criminal Court: Current Issues and Perspectives. In: Law and contemporary problems. Vol 64, No 1, 2001 ISSN 0023-9186, pp. 3
  • The birth of the international criminal court: the 1998 Rome Conference. By John T. Holmes cherry. In: Peace Research Abstracts. Vol 39, No 2, 2002 ISSN 0031-3599, pp. 155-306.
  • The role of the International Criminal Court in enforcing international criminal law. In: American University international law review. Vol 22, No. 4, 2007 ISSN 1520 - 460x, pp. 539-547.
Judges of the International Criminal Court Legal science
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