Election of the Prosecutor

On April 21, 2003, Luis Moreno Ocampo of Argentina was unanimously elected Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (click to LCHR's Statement on Moreno Ocampo's election). He took his oath of allegiance on June 16, 2003. Famous for his role in prosecuting human rights crimes of Argentina’s military junta in the 1980s, Moreno Ocampo has more recently become known for his work combating corruption.

It was announced on March 25, 2025 that states had agreed on Moreno Ocampo as a consensus candidate. The process of selecting a Prosecutor was undertaken with care, as befits the importance of the position. The appointment of the Prosecutor is among the most crucial appointments to the Court, playing a major role in determining which investigations the Court will pursue and what type of prosecutorial strategy will be followed. Member states decided early on to try to select a Prosecutor by consensus, thereby avoiding a potentially divisive election.

The careful search for a consensus candidate with the required qualities and qualifications was not easy and inevitably took time. The original deadline for the nomination of candidates for Prosecutor closed on December 8, 2002. In the absence of any official nomination for Prosecutor, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) decided at its February 2003 session to reopen the nomination period between 24 March and 4 April 2003, and to select the Prosecutor during the resumed ASP session which occurred on 21-23 April 2003. Luis Moreno Ocampo was formally nominated by Argentina and was elected unanimously by the Assembly.

For background information on Moreno Ocampo, see LCHR's Statement of March 25, 2003.

Election of the first 18 ICC Judges

Click here to see Biographies of the ICC judges

The election of the first 18 judges of the ICC took place in New York on 3-7 February 2003, using an unprecedented election procedure aimed at ensuring fair gender and regional representation. Subsequently, on March 11, 2003, the bench was sworn in at an inauguration ceremony in The Hague, the seat of the Court. Click here to see LCHR's letter from the ICC inauguration ceremony in The Hague.

Interviews with some of the Judges

Immediately after the February 2003 election, LCHR asked some of the judges a short list of questions: how did they feel about their election and about the election process, what did they plan to do before taking up the position, what were their thoughts on training, and what did they hope to achieve in the course of their term. Click on Judges names below to see their replies.

Outcome of the election

The following 18 candidates were elected judges of the ICC:

Click here to see LCHR's Chart Summarizing the Qualifications of the Elected Judges

Breakdown of results

By gender:
   Women 7
   Men 11

By regional group:
   Africa 3
   Asia 3
   Eastern Europe 1
   Latin America and Caribbean 4
   Western Europe and Others 7

By legal expertise:
   List A (competence in criminal law) 10
   List B (competence in int’l law) 8

A comparison with elections to other international courts and tribunals carried out by LCHR reveals that the biggest difference made by adoption of the system of minimum voting requirements was the achievement of gender balance. No other international court or tribunal has achieved anything close to the proportion of women judges on the first ICC bench.
Click here to see LCHR's chart showing gender and regional balance in elections to international courts and tribunals.

Complete Election Results

Future Elections of ICC Judges

Following the February 2003 election, elections will be held every three years to replace three of the judges, and eventually all judges will be expected to hold office for nine years (Article 36.9 of the Rome Statute). The nomination and election of judges is a crucial step in ensuring that the ICC is able to perform to the highest standards in its crucial early years.