Chile Eboe-Osuji (born 2 September 1962) is a Distinguished International Jurist at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law and a Special Advisor to the President's Office at

Toronto Metropolitan University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU or Toronto Met) is a public research university located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, although it also operates facilities elsewhere in Toro ...

. In his role at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Eboe-Osuji is leading discussions on the international human rights regime, the international humanitarian law regime, the role of international courts/tribunals, and the rule of law. He will also play a key role in advancing Lincoln Alexander Law's international profile through teaching initiatives, programmatic collaborations, and public discourse. Prior to joining the law school, Eboe-Osuji served as the President 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 individuals f ...

The Hague The Hague ( ; nl, Den Haag or ) is a city and municipality of the Netherlands, situated on the west coast facing the North Sea. The Hague is the country's administrative centre and its seat of government, and while the official capital o ...

from March 2018 to March 2021. The Nigerian-born Eboe-Osuji was also concurrently serving as a senior judge in the Appeals Division of the ICC during this time. Prior to his work with the International Criminal Court, he was the Legal Advisor to the

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, commonly known as the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) or the United Nations Human Rights Office, is a department of the Secretariat of the United Nati ...

in Geneva. He also served at various times as a senior prosecutor at both the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Early life and education

Eboe-Osuji was born in Anara, Isiala Mbano, Imo State, Nigeria, on 2 September 1962. He obtained his bachelor of laws degree from the

University of Calabar The University of Calabar is a public university situated in Calabar, Cross River State, Nigeria. It is one of Nigeria's second generation federal universities. The University of Calabar was a campus of the University of Nigeria until 1975. Th ...

, Nigeria, master of laws degree from

McGill University McGill University (french: link=no, Université McGill) is an English-language public research university located in Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous ...

Montreal, Quebec Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the second-most populous city in Canada and most populous city in the Canadian province of Quebec. Founded in 1642 as '' Ville-Marie'', or "City of Mary", it is named after Mount Royal, the triple-pe ...

, Canada, and doctor of laws degree from the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, nl, Universiteit van Amsterdam) is a public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. The UvA is one of two large, publicly funded research universities in the city, the other being ...

, the Netherlands.

Career

Eboe-Osuji was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986 and practised briefly there. After obtaining his master of laws degree from McGill in 1991, he worked as a barrister in Canada, having been called to the Bar in Ontario and in British Columbia in 1993. From 1997 to 2005, Eboe-Osuji worked at the

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR; french: Tribunal pénal international pour le Rwanda; rw, Urukiko Mpanabyaha Mpuzamahanga Rwashyiriweho u Rwanda) was an international court established in November 1994 by the United Nation ...

as prosecution counsel and senior legal officer to the judges of the tribunal. From 2005 to 2007, he worked in Canada as a barrister and law lecturer. Working for the

Special Court for Sierra Leone The Special Court for Sierra Leone, or the "Special Court" (SCSL), also called the Sierra Leone Tribunal, was a judicial body set up by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations to "prosecute persons who bear the greatest responsibil ...

as senior prosecution appeals counsel in 2007/08 and returning to the ICTR from 2008 to 2010 as Head of Chambers, he became the Legal Advisor to the

Navi Pillay Navanethem "Navi" Pillay (born 23 September 1941) is a South African jurist who served as the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights from 2008 to 2014. A South African of Indian Tamil origin, she was the first non-white woman judge o ...

in 2010, and held a cross-appointment as the principal prosecution appeals counsel at the

, in the case of Charles Taylor, the former President of Liberia. He has authored two books and numerous law journal articles in international law.

Judge of the International Criminal Court, 2012 - 2021

On 16 December 2011, Eboe-Osuji was

elected Elected may refer to: * "Elected" (song), by Alice Cooper, 1973 * ''Elected'' (EP), by Ayreon, 2008 *The Elected, an American indie rock band See also *Election An election is a formal group decision-making process by which a population ...

as a judge of the

. He won the office in the fifteenth ballot in the

Assembly of States Parties 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 individu ...

. He took office on 11 March 2012. From September 2013, Eboe-Osuji – alongside Judges Olga Venecia Herrera Carbuccia and

Robert Fremr Robert Fremr (born 8 November 1957) is a Czech jurist who has been serving as a judge of the International Criminal Court since 2011. Early life and education From 1976 to 1980, Fremr studied at the Charles University Law School in Prague and ...

– presided over the trial against Deputy President

William Ruto William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto (born 21 December 1966) is a Kenyan politician who is serving as the fifth and current president of Kenya since 13 September 2022. Prior to becoming president, he served as the 11th deputy president of Ken ...

Kenya ) , national_anthem = " Ee Mungu Nguvu Yetu"() , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , capital = Nairobi , coordinates = , largest_city = Nairobi ...

, who was accused of stoking a wave of killing for political gain after the country's contested

2007 elections The following elections occurred in the year 2007. * Electoral calendar 2007 * Elections in 2007 * 2007 United Nations Security Council election Africa * 52nd National Conference of the African National Congress * 2007 Algerian legislative el ...

. Early on, he warned Kenyan media and bloggers that anyone revealing the identity of a protected witness at the Ruto trial could be guilty of contempt of court; ICC

chief prosecutor A prosecutor is a legal representative of the prosecution in states with either the common law adversarial system or the civil law inquisitorial system. The prosecution is the legal party responsible for presenting the case in a criminal tria ...

Fatou Bensouda Fatou Bom Bensouda (; ; born 31 January 1961) is a Gambian lawyer and former Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC). She served as Prosecutor from June 2012 to June 2021, after having served as a Deputy Prosecutor in charge of the ...

had previously complained that some witnesses were being intimidated in Kenya, some of whom withdrew from the case. Following Eboe-Osuji's own request, the Presidency of the ICC decided to reconstitute Trial Chamber V(b) in the trial against

Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta (born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022. Kenyatta was chosen by Daniel Arap Moi as his preferred successor, but Kenyatta was defeated by opposition le ...

and replace him with Judge Geoffrey Henderson in early 2014. However, Eboe-Osuji remains the Presiding Judge in Trial Chamber V(a) which continues to hear the case against Ruto and former Kass FM broadcaster Joshua Sang. In April 2014, his chamber issued

subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

s for several prosecution witnesses no longer willing to testify in the case. Shortly after, Eboe-Osuji told off the government of Kenya for turning to the principle of

sovereignty Sovereignty is the defining authority within individual consciousness, social construct, or territory. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within the state, as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the perso ...

"at every convenient opportunity, with the evident aim of frightening judges".

Other activities

* On April 28, 2022, Eboe-Osuji joined The Right Honourable Kim Campbell, The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin and The Honourable Bob Rae on a panel to discus
"Canada's Place on the World Stage"
* Distinguished International Jurist, (Lincoln Alexander School of Law at Toronto Metropolitan University) *

International Gender Champions International Gender Champions (IGC) is a network of female and male leaders of member states, international organizations, and civil society working for gender equality. It is an initiative of Women@TheTable, and was founded in 2015 by Caitlin Kr ...

(IGC), MemberMembers

(IGC).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eboe-Osuji, Chile 1962 births Living people International Criminal Court judges McGill University Faculty of Law alumni University of Calabar alumni University of Amsterdam alumni Nigerian judges People from Imo State Nigerian judges of international courts and tribunals Presidents of the International Criminal Court