International Criminal Court Bar Association

Marie-Hélène Proulx is a lawyer admitted to the Québec Bar since 2003. She is currently an Associate Counsel in the Defence team of Mr. Patrice-Édouard Ngaïssona before the International Criminal Court. She previously worked as a Legal Consultant for the appeal proceedings in the case of Dominic Ongwen, as Associate Counsel for Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz (ICC), and in the Defence team of Hassan Habib Merhi before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. She was also appointed Ad Hoc Counsel at the Office of Public Counsel for the Defence and acted as Rule 74 Legal Adviser at the ICC. She acted as Counsel for Jean de Dieu Kamuhanda, and is currently a pro bono Counsel for Mr. Siméon Nchamihigo before the IRMCT. She also worked as a Legal Officer at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia and at the ICC, Teaching Assistant at the University of Geneva and Legal Adviser at the ICRC Advisory Service on International Humanitarian Law at the Geneva Headquarters. She obtained a law degree from the Université de Montréal (Canada) as well as a LL.M from the University Centre for International Humanitarian Law (now Geneva Academy). She was previously a member of the Executive Council (2019-2020) and of the Training Committee (2020-2021) of the ICCBA.

I am a barrister at the Bar of England and Wales (practising since September 2001). Since 2009, the focus of my practice has been defending in international criminal cases. I have represented, or assisted in the representation of, clients in a total of nine cases before the ICTR, STL, IRMCT and ICC. I am currently associate counsel for Mr Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman (Darfur) before the ICC, and counsel for Mr Alphonse Nteziryayo before the IRMCT. I was also ad hoc associate counsel for Mr Al-Hassan (Mali) towards the end of the prosecution case, and during the victims’ case, before the ICC. In 2016-2017, I was chair of two inaugural ICCBA committees: the Training Committee and the Professional Standards Advisory Committee. I work just as comfortably in French as I do in English, an important advantage given the often multilingual nature of the work of the ICC.

Haydee Dijkstal is a UK barrister and US attorney with over a decade of experience practicing international criminal and human rights law before international tribunals including the ICC. Her practice has included work before the ICC, ICTY, SCSL, African Commission and Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and various UN bodies.  Haydee is currently representing victims at the ICC in the Situation in Afghanistan and Situation in Ukraine. Haydee has been a member of legal teams before the International Criminal Court since 2011 representing parties including the defence, victims and Governments.  In addition to her current instructions regarding Afghan and Ukrainian victims, her previous experiences and instructions before the ICC include the 1) legal team for the Comoros Government and victims in the Registered Vessels situation; 2) Defence team for Abdullah Al-Senussi, 3) legal team for Sudanese victims, and 4) legal team for the Kenyan Government.  In addition, she has been instructed in regards to amicus curiae  submissions in the Palestine situation and Ntaganda case, and on a number of Article 15 Communications on behalf of victims to the ICC Office of the Prosecutor.

Cécile is currently Legal Assisant in the Defence team of Mr Al Hassan before the International Criminal Court. She previously worked as a case manager and legal assistant in the Defence Team of Mr. Jean-Pierre Bemba at the ICC from 2013 to 2018, and in the Defence Team of Mr. Ndagijimana in the Nzabonimpa et al. case at the UN-IRMCT from 2019 to 2021. She was also an associate legal officer at the OPCD in 2021 and a consultant for IDLO from 2017 to 2021. She obtained a Masters from the Université La Sorbonne (France) as well as a LL.M from Leiden University. She was previously a member of the Amicus Committee (2019-2021) and of the Counsel Support Staff Committee (2021-2022) of the ICCBA.

With reform of the legal aid policy ongoing, it is critical that you elect those who understand the realities of working here. I have worked on ICC legal aid issues for over five years and can advise the Executive Council on representing your interests resolutely and strategically in reform discussions. Furthermore, I would listen to your views on the process of how counsel is selected and appointed with a view that the ICCBA discuss these with the Registry. And lastly, I would advocate building a better long-term funding model for the ICCBA to ensure its future viability. Counsel and support staff can have confidence in me because I have over 13 years' experience at international criminal tribunals, including as staff, counsel, and support staff (ICC, ICTY, ICTR, ECCC, and SCSL). I have also served on the Executive Council and Counsel Support Staff Committee of the ICCBA.

Jason Antley currently leads a project improving fair trials and defence lawyer capacity in Iraq and Kurdistan. He has worked on similar projects in Somaliland, Kosovo, Saudi Arabia, and the United Kingdom. Jason has worked in international tribunals since 2009, at the ICTY, the STL, and now as a consultant to the Yekatom Defence at the ICC. He is admitted to practice law in the US state of Georgia, and is a case management expert on the Justice Rapid Response roster.

Mélissa Beaulieu Lussier is a Legal Assistant in the Defence team of Mr Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz (Mali) at the ICC since September 2021. She was previously Legal Assistant and Legal consultant in the Defence team of Mr Bosco Ntaganda (DRC) at the ICC between 2014-2015 and 2019-2021. She has experience in every phase of a case at the ICC, from pre-trial to reparations. She has also practiced as a criminal defence attorney for 4 years in Montreal (Canada), particularly in cases of sexual violence. Mélissa was admitted to the Québec Bar in 2014 and obtained a LL.M. from McGill University.

Laurence Hortas-Laberge is dual qualified as lawyer in the Province of Quebec and as attorney in the State of New York. She was case manager in the Defence Team of Mr. Ntaganda during the Reparation Phase and is now case manager in the Yekatom Defence where she completed her internship in 2019. Ms Hortas-Laberge has more than two years experience at the International Criminal Court and has a deep interest in issues affecting the workplace. After graduation from the Université de Montréal (Canada) she completed an LL.M in Transnational Law at King's College London (United-Kingdom). During her time in law school, she undertook various research assistant mandates in constitutional law, business and human rights and green finance.  

Mr Larochelle is one of the founding partners of Larochelle Avocats, a firm specializing in litigation based in Montreal, Canada.  (www.larochelleavocats.com). Since 1998, Mr Larochelle has developed a private practice focusing on civil and criminal law before the Superior Courts, Courts of Appeal and the Supreme Court of Canada. Since 2001, he has also practiced in international criminal law, representing clients before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (Tanzania), the International Criminal Court (The Netherlands) and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (The Netherlands). Mr Larochelle has extensive experience in civil, criminal and aboriginal law, both before Canadian and international courts, including the following cases:

-Acquittal before the Supreme Court of Canada in 2006 (Déry v. The Queen).

-Representing the interests of the Algonquin Makwanini First Nation since 2008.

-Acquittal of the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Rwanda at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 2011 (The Prosecutor v. Bicamumpaka).

-Condemnation of Canada by the Committee against Torture in 2012 (Régent Boily v. Canada).

-Confirmation of the decision not to confirm the charges before the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court in 2012 (The Prosecutor v. Mbarushimana).

-Acquittal in R. v. Mungwarere, genocide trial before Canadian courts in 2013.

-Conviction of the Minister of Youth Affairs and Cooperatives by the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda in 2014 (Prosecutor v. Nzabonimana).

-Member of Narcisse Arido Defence team before the International Criminal Court in 2015.

-Defence Counsel for the interests of Hussein Hassan Oneissi before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon 2014-2016.

-Revision case for Éliezer Niyitegeka before the IRMCT in 2015-2017.

-Condemnation of Canada by the Committee against torture in 2018 (Mugesera c. Canada).

-Defence of Jean-de-Dieu Ndagijimana, facing contempt charges before the IRMCT since 2019

-Condemnation of Rwanda before the African Court on Human and Peoples Right in November 2020 (Mugesera c. Rwanda). Mr Larochelle participated as a panelist in conferences on international criminal law in Canada, The Netherlands and France. He has also published articles on the subject in both French and English.

Me Élise LE GALL est avocate au Barreau de Paris, docteur en droit de l’université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne et inscrite sur la liste des conseils habilités à intervenir devant la CPI. Elle intervient actuellement en France dans plusieurs dossiers de compétence universelle auprès du Pôle spécialisé Anti-terrorisme, Génocide, crimes de guerre, crimes contre l’humanité du Tribunal judiciaire de Paris. Elle représente notamment des anciens salariés parties civiles dans l’affaire Lafarge (complicité de crimes contre l’humanité pour ses activités en Syrie) ainsi que des parties civiles dans des dossiers rwandais, RDC, Centrafrique. Elle a également opéré un signalement devant le bureau du procureur de la CPI pour les exactions commises entre avril 2019 et mars 2020 en Guinée. Par ailleurs, elle publie régulièrement des ouvrages, articles scientifiques sur la justice pénale internationale et intervient auprès d’universités (Assas, Limoges) et est présidente de l’AFPCU. En 2010, elle a œuvré au sein d’une équipe de défense devant le TPIR, puis occupé le poste de coordinatrice de la Coalition Française pour la Cour pénale internationale (CFCPI). De 2016 à 2018, elle a également été la collaboratrice juridique spécialement rattachée auprès du Procureur général des Chambres africaines extraordinaires (CAE) du Sénégal dans le procès Hissein Habré.

Marie O'Leary is currently Counsel for the Office of Public Counsel for the Defence (OPCD) at the ICC. She is also the current President of the ADC-ICT. She was previously a member of the defence teams of Naser Orić, Vlastimir Đorđević, Milan Lukić (Lukić & Lukić) and Dragomir Pećanac at the ICTY. Marie previously held the position of Head of Office for the ADC-ICTY. 

Thushara Rajasinghe is a Judge of the Criminal Division of  the High Court in  the Republic of Fiji  since 2014. He presides over complex criminal cases ranging from murder, sexual offences (including against children), drug trafficking, freedom of speech and media freedom, constitutional rights of the citizens, money laundering and financial fraud, and serious property crimes.  He has been invited by the President of the Court  to  sit  as a Judge in the Court of Appeal of Fiji in several appeals. Rajasinghe served as a Resident Magistrate  in the Republic of Fiji from November 2009  until his appointment  to the High Court in August 2013. During the same period, he had presided over the Land Transport Appeal Tribunal. In August 2013, he was appointed to the High Court of Fiji (Civil Division) as the Master of the High Court. Prior to his appointment to the Fijian Judiciary , he served as a Magistrate/Additional District Judge in Sri Lanka from October 2004 to October 2009. Prior to that he was a practicing lawyer in Sri Lanka  from December 1999. During this period, he had handled a variety of civil and criminal cases and also took part in civil society activities directed at  promoting the rule of law, democracy, reconciliation and  peace-building. He completed his law studies at the Sri Lanka Law College in 1999. He was then enrolled as an Attorney- at- Law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in December 1999. In August 2012, he was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of Fiji Islands. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts (sp), Master of Arts in International Relations and Master of Law from the University of Colombo in 2001, 2007 and 2008. He also has contributed his knowledge in writing academic articles published in Law journals. He is 46 years old married and have one teenage daughter.  He also holds  dual citizenship in Fiji and Sri Lanka.

Gregory Townsend started as a deputy public defender in Los Angeles. In 1998, he joined the ICTR, where he clerked for a judge and worked as a prosecuting trial attorney. He later became a prosecutor for the UN peacekeeping mission in Kosovo and ICTY. He served as Head of Office for the SCSL in The Hague. He joined the STL in 2010 as chief legal advisor to the Prosecutor. From 2014 to 2018, he served as Chief of the Registry’s Court Support Services Section for ICTY & IRMCT, where he oversaw witness protection, court operations, judicial records and legal aid. He is a professor of international law and on the list of counsel to represent victims before the ECCC, KSC and ICC. He is presently duty counsel to Mr. Mokom before the ICC.

Dr Victor Tsilonis is a principal legal counsel in Greece.  In 2020 he was Greece’s nominee for the position of judge at the International Criminal Court (evaluated as “highly qualified” by the independent advisory committee). He is the author of the book The Jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (Springer, 2019) ISBN 978-3-030-21525-5 (Springer, 2019), which constitutes the product of over 10 years of research on the International Criminal Court (forthcoming 2nd edition, 2023). Moreover, Victor is the founder and chief executive officer of the niche Greek law firm Newlaw, and has over a 18-year track record of excellence in handling criminal cases. He is actively involved in the ICC’s fora and thus familiar with the criminal proceedings of the Court. As a member of the ICC Disciplinary Board (2018-2022), he has tried a significant number of disciplinary cases; in fact he has participated in more than 30% of all published decisions of the ICC disciplinary organs by October 2022. In 2019, he was elected Joint Vice President for Victims and Chairman of the Professional Standards Advisory Committee of the International Criminal Court Bar Association (ICCBA), while in 2021 he was re-elected as ICCBA Vice-President for victims. Finally he is a columnist, activist and co-founder/chairman of the Intellectum NGO in Greece (2006-2022), which is currently the only Greek NGO member of the Coalition of the International Criminal Court (CICC) and staunch supporter of the Project Sunflowers (collecting information concerning crimes committed during the war in Ukraine).

Born in France, Sarah VALDURIEZ grew up in the United States. She is bilingual. Attorney since 2009, located in Paris and then in Versailles (France), she defends her clients before national and international courts. Her experience in criminal law has led her to represent both victims and defendants, particularly in cases of terrorism and organized crime.