Trinidad and Tobago judge takes oath as ICC member

JUSTICE Althea Alexis-Windsor on Wednesday took the oath of office as a judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC).

The ceremony was held at the seat of the ICC in The Hague, Netherlands. Alexis-Windsor attended the ceremony virtually, a statement from the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs said.

Alexis-Windsor was endorsed by the Caribbean Community, and was elected on December 23 to serve at the ICC for 2021-2030.

She has over 23 years’ experience in criminal law, international criminal law, and served as trial attorney and appeals counsel at the International Criminal Tribunal on Rwanda.

The ministry reminded that the ICC’s advisory committee, in assessing Alexis-Windsor, said she possessed “exceptional judicial experience at the national level” as a judge of the Supreme Court of Trinidad and Tobago.

The committee also noted that on the basis of "her professional experience and her answers during the interview,” she was highly qualified for the appointment as a judge of the ICC.

Registrar of the court Peter Lewis, outgoing president Chile Eboe-Osuji and incoming president of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC Silvia Fernandez de Gurmendi addressed the ceremony.

Also in attendance were TT’s Ambassador to the Netherlands, based in Belgium, Colin Connelly, and Justice Geoffrey Henderson, whose term as an ICC judge ended on Wednesday. Henderson was elected in November 2013, to fill a vacancy left by then Justice Anthony Carmona, who resigned from the court in March that year, to serve as president of TT.

He was assigned to the trials division, working on high-profile cases including those involving former presidents of several African states. Some of the notable cases Henderson presided over included those of Kenyan president Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo; former Cote d’Ivoire president Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé; Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain; and Bosco Ntaganda, who were charged with various offences involving crimes against humanity and war crimes, among others. He also worked on pre-trial situations involving Bangladesh, Myanmar, Georgia and Bolivia.

In the release, the ministry said, “TT continues to be recognised internationally for its pioneering work in the establishment of the ICC which predates the entry into force of the Rome Statute.

“”In 1989, the then Prime Minister, the late Arthur NR Robinson, resurrected the idea of the establishment of a court with jurisdiction over international crimes in an address to the UN General Assembly.

“The Government congratulates Madam Justice Althea Alexis-Windsor on being sworn in as a judge of the International Criminal Court and acknowledges with appreciation the outstanding service of Justice Geoffrey Henderson to the International Criminal Court,” the release said.