Piotr Józef Hofmański (born 6 March 1956) is a Polish jurist and judge who served as President of the

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

(ICC) from 2021 to 2024 and as a judge of the ICC from 2015 to 2024. Prior to this tenure, Hofmański was a legal expert and advisor at the

Council of Europe The Council of Europe (CoE; , CdE) is an international organisation with the goal of upholding human rights, democracy and the Law in Europe, rule of law in Europe. Founded in 1949, it is Europe's oldest intergovernmental organisation, represe ...

Early life and education

Piotr Hofmański was born in

Poznań Poznań ( ) is a city on the Warta, River Warta in west Poland, within the Greater Poland region. The city is an important cultural and business center and one of Poland's most populous regions with many regional customs such as Saint John's ...

Polish People's Republic The Polish People's Republic (1952–1989), formerly the Republic of Poland (1947–1952), and also often simply known as Poland, was a country in Central Europe that existed as the predecessor of the modern-day democratic Republic of Poland. ...

on 6 March 1956. He obtained his master of laws degree from the

Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń or NCU (, UMK) is located in Toruń, Poland. It is named after Nicolaus Copernicus, who was born in Toruń in 1473. History The beginnings of higher education in Toruń The first institution of higher ...

in 1978. He got his doctor of laws degree from the same university in 1981. He habilitated at the University of Silesia in Katowice in 1990.

Council of Europe

In 2001–2002 he was working as an expert at the

in the ''Reflection Group on developments in international cooperation in criminal matters'' and in 2004–2006 in the ''Committee of Experts on Transnational Justice''.

Judge

He began his career as a judge on the bench of the

appellate court An appellate court, commonly called a court of appeal(s), appeal court, court of second instance or second instance court, is any court of law that is empowered to hear a case upon appeal from a trial court or other lower tribunal. Appel ...

Białystok Białystok is the largest city in northeastern Poland and the capital of the Podlaskie Voivodeship. It is the List of cities and towns in Poland, tenth-largest city in Poland, second in terms of population density, and thirteenth in area. Biał ...

in 1994. In 1996–2015 he was a judge in the Criminal Chamber of the

Supreme Court of Poland The Supreme Court ( ) is the highest court in the Poland, Republic of Poland. It is located in the Krasiński Square, Warsaw. The legal basis for the competence and activities of the Supreme Court is the Constitution of Poland, Polish Consti ...

. In 1999 he served as the court's

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. In December 2014 he was elected as a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

of the

for the 2015–2024 term. He was the first person from

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It extends from the Baltic Sea in the north to the Sudetes and Carpathian Mountains in the south, bordered by Lithuania and Russia to the northeast, Belarus and Ukrai ...

elected to that post. He was officially sworn in on 10 March 2015 with five other judges. In March 2021 he was elected President of the International Criminal Court for the term 2021–2024. He served with judges Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza and Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua as his Vice-presidents. In September 2023,

Russia Russia, or the Russian Federation, is a country spanning Eastern Europe and North Asia. It is the list of countries and dependencies by area, largest country in the world, and extends across Time in Russia, eleven time zones, sharing Borders ...

issued an

arrest warrant An arrest warrant is a warrant issued by a judge or magistrate on behalf of the state which authorizes the arrest and detention of an individual or the search and seizure of an individual's property. Canada Arrest warrants are issued by a jud ...

for Hofmański on unspecified charges, allegedly in retaliation for the ICC having issued a warrant against President

Vladimir Putin Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin (born 7 October 1952) is a Russian politician and former intelligence officer who has served as President of Russia since 2012, having previously served from 2000 to 2008. Putin also served as Prime Minister of Ru ...

Decorations

In 2000 he was awarded the Silver Cross of Merit by the

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Aleksander Kwaśniewski Aleksander Kwaśniewski (; born 15 November 1954) is a Polish politician and journalist. He served the maximum two terms as the president of Poland from 1995 to 2005. His tenure as President was marked by modernization of Poland, rapid economi ...

Personal life

He is fluent in Polish, English and German. He is married and has three daughters.

Publications

Hofmański authored and co-authored more than 300 publications regarding various aspects of criminal law and procedure, international cooperation in criminal matters and human rights protection. Many of his publications have been written and published in German and/or English.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hofmański, Piotr 1956 births Academic staff of Jagiellonian University Nicolaus Copernicus University in Toruń alumni 20th-century Polish judges Fugitives wanted by Russia Polish judges of international courts and tribunals Polish legal scholars Presidents of the International Criminal Court Recipients of the Silver Cross of Merit (Poland) Scholars of criminal law Academic staff of the University of Silesia in Katowice Living people 21st-century Polish judges