Chris van den Wyngaert

Baroness
Christine Van Den Wyngaert
Judge of the International Criminal Court
In office
11 March 2009 – 2018
Nominated by Belgium
Personal details
Born (1952-04-02) 2 April 1952
Antwerp, Belgium
Nationality Belgian
Alma mater Vrije Universiteit Brussel

Christine Baroness Van den Wyngaert (born 2 April 1952, Antwerp, Belgium), an international and comparative criminal law expert, has served since 2009 as a judge on the International Criminal Court.[1] She serves in the Trial Division Chamber. On 8 July 2013, Van den Wyngaert was ennobled by King Albert II of Belgium as a baroness for her services as a judge. From 2003 to 2005 she was a Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and from 2000 to 2002 an ad hoc judge on the International Court of Justice.

Career

Early career

Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, 2003-2009

Judge of the International Criminal Court, 2009-present

In March 2012, the Presidency of the ICC announced that Van Den Wyngaert and her fellow judged Kuniko Ozaki and Chile Eboe-Osuji would form Trial Chamber V, which was responsible for the prosecutor’s investigation in Kenya. By April 2013, Van Den Wyngaert asked to be excused from hearing a crimes-against-humanity case against Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto after questioning the conduct of the prosecution under Fatou Bensouda.[9]

When Congolese warlord Germain Katanga was convicted in March 2014 of being an accessory to one count of crime against humanity and war crimes including murder and pillage – only the second conviction in the 12-year history of the ICC –, Van den Wyngaert partially disagreed with her two fellow judges Fatoumata Dembele Diarra and Bruno Cotte.[10] In her dissenting opinion, she argued Katanga's trial had lasted too long and that he should have been acquitted in 2013 along with his co-accused Mathieu Ngudjolo.[11] She also held that Katanga was not intentionally responsible for the crimes and said it was unfair to convict him as an accessory when he had originally been charged with being central to the crimes' commission.[12]

In June 2014 she wrote a dissenting opinion during the pre-trial of the case The Prosecutor v. Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé, holding she was unable to join her colleagues in their decision to confirm the charges against Laurent Gbagbo and that in her view that the evidence was still insufficient.[13]

Other activities

Van den Wyngaert is on the steering committee for The Crimes Against Humanity Initiative, which was launched in 2008 to study the need for a new comprehensive global convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity.[14]

She has also served as rapporteur for the International Law Association on extradition and human rights and a general reporter for the Association Internationale de Droit Pénal in Budapest relating to international cooperation to combat organized crime.

Recognition

References

  1. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 2014-04-07.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 United Nations: Biographical Note Judge Christine VAN DEN WYNGAERT
  3. ↑ (In Dutch:) Website of Humanistisch Vrijzinnige Vereniging Antwerpen: Een wereld van ontmoetingen - Chris Van de Wyngaert Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine. ("A world of encounters: Chris Van de Wyngaert")
  4. 1 2 VRT news site 10 December 2006: Chris Van Den Wyngaert awarded
  5. ↑ Lex Mercatoria website: CRIME WITHOUT BORDERS Archived 13 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine. - The 2nd Annual Conference of The International Criminal Law Association 15 June 2001 - Conference brochure Archived 28 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine.
  6. ↑ "Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Belgium)". International Court of Justice. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
  7. ↑ United Nations, 16 December 2003: Judges Christine Van Den Wyngaert and Krister Thelin Sworn in as Ad Litem Judges of the ICTY
  8. ↑ Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs Belgium, 19 November 2004: Professor Christine Van den Wyngaert elected as Permanent Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
  9. ↑ ICC judge withdraws from Kenyan leaders' case Al Jazeera, April 27, 2013.
  10. ↑ Michael Kavanagh (March 7, 2014), Congo Rebel Leader Found Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity Bloomberg Business.
  11. ↑ Thomas Escritt (March 7, 2014), Congo warlord's conviction brings relief to international court Reuters.
  12. ↑ Thomas Escritt (March 7, 2014), Congo warlord's conviction brings relief to international court Reuters.
  13. ↑ "Dissenting Opinion of Judge Christine Van den Wyngaert". International Criminal Court.
  14. ↑ "Crimes Against Humanity Initiative" The Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute
  15. ↑ (In Dutch:) Liga voor Mensenrechten website Archived 19 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine.: Programme of "Prijs voor Mensenrechten" award, 10 December 2006
  16. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 2015-05-11.

Bibliography

A list of publications by Van Den Wyngaert up to 2004 is enclosed in CV Judge Van den Wijngaert at the Foreign Affairs Belgium website.

As author

As (co-)editor

Further reading

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