On 2 October 2017, the ICCBA and the African Bar Association (AFBA) signed an Affiliation Agreement at a ceremony held at the ICC Permanent Premises in The Hague, Netherlands. A copy of the agreement is available here.
The AFBA was represented by its President, Mr. Hannibal Uwaifo, and its Vice President for Budget and Finance, Mr. Ibrahim Mark. The ICCBA was represented by its President, Karim Khan QC, as well as other members of the ICCBA Executive Council, including ICCBA Vice President for the Defence and AFBA member, Chief Charles Taku, and ICCBA Secretary Xavier-Jean Keita. Photos of the event are available here.
The ICCBA and AFBA were honoured by the presence at the signing ceremony of several Judges of the Court (H.E. the First Vice-President Joyce Aluoch, H.E. Sanji Monageng, and H.E. Howard Morrison), the Registrar of the United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals, Olufemi Elias, the Registrar of the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone, Binta Mansaray, and officials from the ICC Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) and Registry, including the Head of International Cooperation at the OTP, Amady Ba, the Director of the Division of Judicial Services, Marc Dubuisson, the Chief of the Counsel Support Section, Esteban Peralta Losilla, the Head of the Office of Public Counsel for Victims, Paolina Massida, the Special Assistant to the ICC Registrar, attending on behalf of the Registrar, Herman von Hebel, and Oriane Maillet of the ICC Public Information and Outreach Section.
A message of congratulations and support received from H.E. Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji was also read at the ceremony.
This affiliation agreement is the first affiliation agreement signed by the ICCBA and another Bar. The agreement was reached in accordance with the ICCBA Procedure Regarding Affiliations (available here), and will form the basis for continued and deepening collaboration and cooperation between the two bar associations on issues of mutual concern and interest.
The ICCBA is grateful for the assistance of the ICC Protocol Section, including Head of Protocol Bengt-Arne Hulleman, in facilitating the hosting of the event at the Permanent Premises.