International Criminal Court Bar Association

MÉLISSA BEAULIEU LUSSIER

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.  

MYLÈNE DIMITRI

Ms. Dimitri brings over two decades of experience to her role before international courts. Currently, she serves as the Lead Counsel for Alfred Yekatom in the Central African Republic II Situation at the International Criminal Court and has also worked as Associate Counsel for Mr. Jean-Pierre Bemba (Article 70). At the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), Ms. Dimitri represented Dr. Augustin Ngirabatware, the Minister of Planning, as his Lead Counsel through both trial and appeal stages. Additionally, she was Co-Counsel for Arsène Shalom Ntahobali, the son of the Minister of Women’s Affairs, Pauline Nyiramasuhuko, in their trial and appeal proceedings. Ms. Dimitri has also navigated trials in absentia, notably co-representing Mustafa Badreddine’s rights and interests at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon until the proceedings were terminated. Subsequently, she transitioned to a Legal Consultant role for Mr. Hassan Habib Merhi.  In Canada, she undertook a ground-breaking trial under universal jurisdiction, defending Désiré Munyaneza against charges related to the 1994 Rwandan Genocide before both the Quebec Superior Court and the Quebec Court of Appeal.  Ms. Dimitri is also an esteemed speaker, having delivered numerous lectures and conferences on open-source investigations and the intricacies of defending suspects in wartime. She was also part of a group of experts invited by the Nuremberg Academy to debate on the length of the proceedings before the ICC. Additionally, she has conducted specialized training for Ukrainian lawyers, further showcasing her commitment to legal education and international human rights. She was also invited to provide a presentation on international criminal courts and tribunals to the appeals judges in Quebec, Canada during their annual training.

ANTA GUISSÉ

Anta Guissé has been a practising lawyer at the Paris Bar in France since 1999. Her working language is French, while she also speaks English. As a criminal defence lawyer, she has appeared regularly before national criminal courts and the Assize Court in particular. In addition, Ms Guissé has several years of experience appearing before the international jurisdictions. Between 2002 and 2010, she worked with several different defence teams before the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, firstly as a legal assistant and then as counsel. In 2010, Ms Guissé had an assignment in a team of Legal Representatives of Victims before the International Criminal Court. She was also Defence Counsel at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon. Since 2012, Ms Guissé has been acting as an international lawyer for former Chairman KHIEU Samphân before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC) and is currently Counsel for Mr. Yekatom at the ICC. Ms Guissé also regularly presents at training workshops for colleagues on the subject of international criminal justice.

ANOUK JULIEN

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.​

AUDREY MATEO

Audrey MATEO currently serves as legal adviser on Mr Abd-Al-Rahman’s defence team before the ICC. She is listed on the ICC’s roster of counsel. She is also an active member of the ICCBA Executive Council (2023–2026). In this capacity, she has acted as the ICCBA Executive Council’s point of contact with States Parties within the working group on legal aid. She also co-organised, in collaboration with the Court, training sessions on the prevention of all forms of harassment in the workplace. She subsequently organised the conference marking the 10th anniversary of the ICCBA in July 2026. In 1997, she obtained her law degree in Aix-en-Provence and Montpellier, France. She then studied in Cape Town, South Africa, where she obtained an LL.M. in human rights and international law from the University of the Western Cape (UWC). She has extensive experience in international criminal law: three years working for the Defence as an assistant counsel, followed by ten years as a legal officer in the Chambers of the ICTY and the ICC during the Katanga trial. She lived in Cambodia for two years, where she worked both as a legal consultant and as a volunteer for human rights NGOs, providing support to victims’ lawyers before the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC). She has also worked as a consultant at KSC-SPO. Since 2021, Audrey has served as a UNHCR judge at the National Asylum Court in Paris, and has delivered training sessions as a consultant on the prevention of sexual harassment in the workplace. She also teaches international criminal law at the Toulouse School of Political Science. She is, moreover, an active member of the Association of International Magistrates (AMIF)