Sylvia Helena de Figueiredo Steiner (born 19 January 1953) is a Brazilian judge who was a member of the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC or ICCt) is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individua ...

from 2003 to 2016.

Career

Steiner graduated from the Law School of

University of São Paulo The University of São Paulo ( pt, Universidade de São Paulo, USP) is a public university in the Brazilian state of São Paulo. It is the largest Brazilian public university and the country's most prestigious educational institution, the best ...

and studied later at the

University of Brasília The University of Brasília ( pt, Universidade de Brasília, UnB) is a federal public university in Brasília, the capital of Brazil. It was founded in 1960 and has since consistently been named among the top five Brazilian universities and the ...

. She acted as Federal Public Prosecutor from 1982 to 1995 in

São Paulo São Paulo (, ; Portuguese for 'Saint Paul') is the most populous city in Brazil, and is the capital of the state of São Paulo, the most populous and wealthiest Brazilian state, located in the country's Southeast Region. Listed by the Ga ...

. In 1995, she was appointed as a judge of the Tribunal Regional Federal da 3ª Região, a federal court headquartered at

. Steiner was a member of the Brazilian delegation to the Preparatory Commission of the International Criminal Court from 1999 to 2002. She was also a member of the Official Working Group on the Implementation of the Rome Statute in 2003, in Brazil.

Judge of the International Criminal Court, 2003–2016

Between 2005 and 2016, Steiner served as the presiding judge of the trial chamber for the case of

Jean-Pierre Bemba Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo (born 4 November 1962) is a politician in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. He was one of four vice-presidents in the transitional government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo from 17 July 2003 to December 20 ...

, the first case in which the ICC has found a high official directly responsible for the crimes of his subordinates, as well as the first to focus primarily on crimes of sexual violence committed in war. She left the court in 2016, and the Bemba judgement was overturned on appeal and gave rise to a compensation claim on the part of the accused on the basis that trial mismanagement had contributed to a miscarriage of justice.

Other activities

* Brazilian Institute for Criminal Sciences (IBCCRIM), Founding Associate Member * Brazilian Criminal Sciences Journal, Deputy Director * Brazilian Judges for Democracy Association, Member * Brazilian Section of the

International Commission of Jurists The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) is an international human rights non-governmental organization. It is a standing group of 60 eminent jurists—including senior judges, attorneys and academics—who work to develop national and inte ...

, Member of the Executive Council

Publications

* ''A convenção americana sobre direitos humanos e sua integração ao processo penal brasileiro''. (2000) São Paulo, Editora Revista dos Tribunais. - in Portuguese

Notes

External links

''Brasileira comporá tribunal internacional'', Feb 5, 2003, Ministry of External Relations, Government of Brazil
- in Portuguese Brazilian women judges 20th-century Brazilian judges International Criminal Court judges University of São Paulo alumni People from São Paulo Brazilian people of German descent Living people 1953 births Brazilian judges of international courts and tribunals 21st-century Brazilian judges 20th-century women judges 21st-century women judges {{Brazil-law-bio-stub