Association du Barreau près la Cour Pénale Internationale

​Marie O’Leary has had the privilege to spend the last two decades as an international law practitioner, focusing on international criminal & humanitarian law, as well as human rights. She was most recently Acting Principal Counsel of the Office of Public Counsel for the Defence (OPCD) of the International Criminal Court (ICC) and was working with the Office since 2013. Prior to the ICC, she worked at the United Nations’ International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) with Defence, Amicus Prosecution, and Trial Chambers, and has served as a Legal Consultant for the Defence Offices of the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). She is the current President of the Association of Defence Counsel (ADC-ICT) and currently serves on the ICC Bar Association (ICCBA) Working Group on the Code of Conduct, having previously served in the executive bodies of each association and on several working committees. She has dedicated significant time to capacity-building and training initiatives specifically for defence lawyers, recently co-authoring both a defence needs assessment and a Defence Counsel Handbook for Ukrainian practitioners, both developed/conducted with USAID Justice for All Activity support. She is called to the Bar of the State of Minnesota (U.S.) where she started her career with the Minneapolis City Attorney's Office and the State Public Defenders Office.

Mélissa Beaulieu Lussier is a Canadian lawyer and a member of the Quebec Bar since 2014. Since her admission to the Bar, she has practised criminal law both in Canada and before the International Criminal Court (ICC). She has served on the Defence teams of Mr Bosco Ntaganda (DRC), Mr Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona (CAR), and Mr Al Hassan ag Abdoul Aziz (Mali). Over the years, Ms Beaulieu Lussier has represented accused persons at every stage of proceedings at the ICC, conducted investigations in multiple countries, drafted legal submissions at both trial and appellate levels, and presented a wide range of oral arguments before the Court. She is currently Counsel for Mr Al Hassan and a member of the team representing victims in the case of Mr Abd-Al-Rahman (Darfur) before the ICC. Ms Beaulieu has also been actively involved with the ICCBA for many years. As a member of the Training Committee for the past two terms, she has contributed to the development of many trainings, including the training for Rule 74 duty counsel which she has delivered on numerous occasions. She regularly lectures at universities and bar associations around the world and has also supervised Master’s theses at the University of Amsterdam. Ms Beaulieu strongly believes that sharing experiences across the legal profession strengthens international criminal law and that investing in the training and professional development of lawyers is essential to the effective functioning of the field.  

Dr. Paul Bradfield a barrister and lecturer from Ireland. He was called to the bar in 2009 and holds a PhD from the Irish Centre for Human Rights, University of Galway, Ireland, where he currently is a lecturer in international criminal law. Paul has worked at various international courts since 2010, including the tribunals for the former Yugoslavia, Rwanda, and the International Criminal Court. This included working for the Petković, Karadžić, Nizeyimana and Ali defence teams. Paul has also worked in trial roles at the ICC Office of the Prosecutor and in the Specialist Prosecutor’s Office at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers. He is currently one of the Legal Representatives of the Victims in the Kony case at the ICC. In the field, he has worked for the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Uganda and for Irish Rule of Law International in Malawi, on a range of transitional justice, human rights and access to justice issues. Domestically, he was previously a Prosecutor in Ireland’s Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, prosecuting murder and sexual offence cases.

Haydee Dijkstal is a UK barrister and US attorney with over 15 years of experience practicing international criminal and human rights law before international tribunals including the ICC. Haydee’s practice includes work before the ICC, ICTY, SCSL, ECtHR, African Commission and Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights and various UN bodies.  Haydee has been a member of legal teams before the International Criminal Court since 2011 representing parties including the defence, victims and Governments. Haydee has extensive experience with victim representation before the ICC.  She is currently representing victims at the ICC in the Situation in Afghanistan and Situation in Ukraine, and previously acted on legal teams for victims in a number of other situations and to raise victims’ interests in Article 15 submissions. Other instructions before the ICC include acting on the defence team for Abdullah Al-Senussi in the Libya Situation; and on the legal team for the Kenyan Government. In addition, she has been instructed as counsel for amicus curiae submissions before the Court.

Despoina Eleftheriou is a Greek lawyer admitted to the Thessaloniki Bar and a Case Manager and Legal Assistant before the International Criminal Court. She is currently serving on the Ngaïssona Defence team and she previously worked on the Blé Goudé Defence team. Within the ICCBA, she served as Chair of the Counsel Support Staff Committee, where she led the development of the ICCBA “Welcome Package” and promoted practical resources for counsel and support staff. Beyond the Court, she interned at the Hellenic Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Department for International Relations in Thessaloniki. She holds an LL.B. from the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, an LL.M. in International Studies with Honours, and an LL.M. in International Criminal Law from the University of Amsterdam, graduating cum laude in the joint programme with Columbia University in the City of New York.

Megan Hirst is an Australian lawyer, practicing from the London bar. She has been working at and before the ICC since 2009, with a particular focus on victim participation. At the ICC she has undertaken victim representation in the Ongwen Case, the Bangladesh/Myanmar Situation and the Afghanistan Situation. From 2019 until 2022 she was International Lead Co-Lawyer for victims participating as civil parties in Case 002/02 at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia. Megan was previously a legal officer in the Registries of the ICC and the STL, primarily working on victim participation. Megan has previously served four terms on the Executive Council (2019-2021, 2023-2024, 2024-2025) and in 2019-2021 was also Vice President for Victims and a member of the Victims’ Committee.

Anouk Julien has over five years of experience in international criminal and humanitarian law. A member of the Quebec Bar since 2020, she is currently works in a Defence team at the International Criminal Court. Anouk developed a specialisation in Defence at international tribunals by working at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon and the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, with a focus on case management and legal drafting. Her professional journey extends to diverse national and international initiatives, including organising and delivering specialised training in international criminal and humanitarian law. She has also conducted field research in Latin America and advised on humanitarian matters at Médecins Sans Frontières.​

Chilean Lawyer, with 35 years of experience, Professor of Economic Criminal Law, Litigation, Cybercrimes, Data Protection and Privacy in Criminal Proceedings, and International Criminal Law in Universidad Catolica de Chile (LLM) and Universidad Catolica de Valparaiso (Chile). Lecturer and Speaker in different Congress and Doctoral and Magister Programs in Chile, Peru, Argentina, Ecuador, Spain, etc. Litigator, LLM (California Western School of Law, San Diego, USA, 2016); Specialist in Economic and Corporates Criminal Law (Universidad Castilla – La Mancha, Spain, 2011); Advanced Diploma in International Criminal Law and before the International Courts (The Syracuse Institute, Italy, 2018); Legal Advisor for Senate and Deputies Chamber in Chile. Former President of Valparaiso Bar Association (many periods), Chile. Full member of ICCBA, and Counsel before ICC – CPI (admitted in 2018), Member of AFBA, Member of Privacy Rules International.​ Special Advisor of UIBA (Iberoamerican Bar Association) for Universal Jurisdiction Cases.

Called to the Bar in the D.R. Congo in 2013, Evelyne Ombeni is an international criminal law practitioner with over 15 years of experience in victims’ representation before the International Criminal Court. Her expertise focuses on victimhood in the D.R. Congo, complemented by extensive training, consultancy, and civil society engagement.