Tuesday, August 02, 2016


Advocacy for the ICC in the US and US Lawyers at the Court




At the International Criminal Court, there are 656 lawyers enrolled to practice. Of them, 58 are American lawyers. At AMICC, we researched each individual American lawyer to determine if these attorneys could, individually or collectively, contribute to our advocacy. Although we could not find extensive information on every individual, we have analyzed all available information on each American attorney we could locate. An overwhelming majority of the 58 American attorneys are experts in criminal defense law and procedure. These attorneys have been involved with criminal defense and civil litigation, and are specialists in these fields. However, although they specialize in criminal defense, their expertise extends to other subjects.

From AMICC’s research, we have determined that a majority of the 58 attorneys work in private practice. We discovered only a small number of attorneys who work in major law firms. Of those attorneys who do work in such firms, we identified a few senior lawyers and partners in them. After researching each attorney and his or her type of practice, AMICC has identified 38 criminal defense firms with American lawyers enrolled at the ICC.

The number of American lawyers enrolled to practice at the ICC is a meaningful figure. Although the United States has still not ratified the Rome Statute, there is a significant number of American attorneys who have wanted to be enrolled at the Court. While an attorney’s precise reasons for enrolling at the Court are not clear, it is apparent that they relate to his or her preliminary practice of criminal defense law.

Although each attorney’s reason to enroll at the Court may vary, we believe these attorneys have good reasons to advocate for the Court in the US to achieve a growing and more extensive relationship with the ICC. Furthermore, AMICC believes it is possible to bring these 58 American attorneys together to promote the ICC in the United States because each lawyer made the decision to enroll at the International Criminal Court. We will try to do this both creating an informal group and by approaching the National Association of Criminal Defense Lawyers (NACDL). We will begin the approach by consulting with enrolled attorneys who are also NACDL members. 
                                                                                                          Written by Julia Keenan