International Criminal Courts

The court will be composed of six organs: the Presidency (consisting of three judges: the president and two vice presidents), three judicial divisions (Pre-Trial, Trial, and Appeals), the Office of the Prosecutor, and the Registry (Article 34). It will have eighteen full-time judges in the three judicial divisions, although that number can be raised by the Assembly of States Parties to meet an increase in the workload (Article 36). Judges must have relevant experience and either established competence in criminal law and procedure or in relevant areas of international law, such as international humanitarian law or human rights law. The judges are to be elected by the Assembly of States Parties in a secret ballot for nine-year nonrenewable terms. Article 40 requires that judges be "independent in the performance of their functions," serve full time, and not engage in outside activities that would endanger that independence. Article 42 states that the Office of the Prosecutor "shall act independently as a separate organ of the Court" and members "shall not seek or act on instructions from any external source." The prosecutor and deputy prosecutors must be "persons of high moral character, be highly competent in and have extensive practical experience in the prosecution or trial of criminal cases." They will be elected by the Assembly of States Parties in a secret ballot for a single, nonrenewable term. Article 42 provides for a registrar, elected by the judges, who will be responsible for the administration of the Court. The Registry will include a Victims and Witnesses Unit with responsibility to provide, in consultation with the Office of the Prosecutor, "protective measures and security arrangements, counselling and other appropriate assistance for witnesses, victims who appear before the Court, and others who are at risk on account of testimony given by such witnesses." Its staff must include persons "with expertise in trauma, including trauma related to crimes of sexual violence." To help guarantee their independence, Article 46 provides that judges may only be removed by a two-thirds vote of the Assembly of States Parties and the prosecutor by a majority vote; the registrar may only be removed by a majority of the judges.