THREE CANDIDATES NOMINATED FOR POSITION OF DEPUTY PROSECUTOR

OF INTERNATIONAL CRIMINAL COURT

THE HAGUE, 13 August (ICC) -- The Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, has nominated three candidates for the position of Deputy Prosecutor (Investigations) of the Court:  Serge Brammertz (Belgium), Hassan Bubacarr Jallow (Gambia), and Vladimir Tochilovsky (Ukraine).

The candidates nominated have been selected from a pool of 130 applicants from 47 countries, States Parties and non-States Parties. Twenty-seven women and 103 men applied for the position. Twenty-nine were African applicants; four Asian applicants; 11 Eastern European applicants; eight Latin American and Caribbean applicants; and 78 Western European and Other States applicants.  The large number of applications received is the consequence of a widely publicized call for applications.

The applications were screened to ensure that applicants complied with the requirements set out in article 42, paragraph 3, of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and in light of the duties and responsibilities envisaged for the position.  The Prosecutor selected 14 applicants, each of whom was invited for an interview at the seat of the Court.  The first round of interviews took place at the seat of the Court on 30 July 2003.  The interviews were conducted by Mr. Moreno-Ocampo and Carla Del Ponte, Prosecutor for the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda.

The Prosecutor of the ICC drew up a shortlist of six candidates, each of whom was invited for a second interview.  Between 2 and 4 August, these candidates were interviewed either in person or over the phone.  At this stage, the Prosecutor received the advice of former Yugoslavia and Rwanda Prosecutors Louise Arbour and Richard Goldstone.

On 12 August 2003, Mr. Moreno-Ocampo communicated his decision to Prince Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein, President of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

The election of the Deputy Prosecutor (Investigations) of the ICC will take place during the second plenary session of the Assembly of States Parties to be held from 8 to 12 September 2003, in accordance with article 42, paragraph 4 of the Rome Statute.

The Candidates

Serge Brammertz is the Federal Prosecutor of Belgium.  He has been a prosecutor for more than 14 years, and currently holds the highest office for a prosecutor in his country.  He is responsible for the coordination of all national and international investigations into organized crime, terrorism and violations of international humanitarian law.  Additionally, he has contributed to the creation of a network of European prosecutors, and he plays a leading role in the cooperation between Belgium and other countries and international tribunals and institutions.  Mr. Brammertz holds a Ph.D. in cross-border police cooperation from Albert Ludwigs University, Freiburg, Germany.

Hassan Bubacarr Jallow combines a long career as a prosecutor and judge in the Gambia with international experience.  He was the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of his country for 10 years, and a Supreme Court judge for four years.  He was a member of the expert group that conducted a judicial evaluation of and recommended measures for the effective functioning of the Yugoslavia and Rwanda Tribunals at the request of the United Nations Secretary-General in 2002.  He has received international recognition by being appointed judge of the Appeals Chamber of the Special Court for Sierra Leone and judge ad litemof the Yugoslavia Tribunal.  He is currently a member of the Administrative Tribunal of the Commonwealth Secretariat.  He holds an LL.M. from University College London, United Kingdom.

Vladimir Tochilovsky has worked at the Office of the Prosecutor for the Yugoslavia Tribunal for nine years, both in investigations and prosecutions.  He is currently a Trial Attorney in that Office.  He worked for 15 years as a District Attorney and Regional Deputy Procurator in Ukraine, and obtained a Ph.D. in prosecution and criminal procedure from Taras Shevchenko National University, Kyiv, Ukraine.  He has participated in the early stages of the development of the ICC, both as an official representative of the Yugoslavia Tribunal to the Preparatory Committee for the Establishment of an International Criminal Court and the Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court, and as an expert who was consulted by the ICC Office of the Prosecutor on a number of topics.

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