Ugandan judge, Solome Balungi Bossa was on Tuesday elected to join the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, The Netherlands.
Ambassador Adonia Ayebare, Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the UN broke the news of her election on twitter praising the efforts of the East African nation’s team to have scoop the post.
“Glad to announce the election of Justice Barungi Bosa of Uganda as Judge of the ICC. Thank you team Uganda,” he tweeted.
Below is Bossa’s profile
Solome Balungi Bossa, also (Solomy Balungi Bossa), is a Ugandan judge on the International Criminal Court (ICC). Immediately prior to her election to the ICC, she was a member of the Court of Appeal, which also doubles as the Constitutional Court, in the Judiciary of Uganda. She was elected to her current position on 5 December 2017.
She was born in the Central Region of Uganda, on 14 April 1956. She attended Ugandan schools for her primary and secondary school education. In 1976, she was admitted to Makerere University, in Kampala, to study law. She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 1979. She hen obtained a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre, also in Kampala. In 1987, she obtained a Certificate in Law Reporting, from the Commonwealth Youth Centre, in Lusaka, Zambia. Later, in 2016, she was awarded a Master of Laws (LLM) degree, specializing in Public International Law.
Before ascending to the bench, Solome Bossa was a lecturer at the Law Development Centre, and she maintained a private legal practice.She became a judge at the High Court of Uganda in 1997. Since then, she has served on the East African Court of Justice, and the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda. At the time of her election to the ICC, she was a member of Uganda’s Court of Appeal which also doubles as the Constitutional Court of Uganda.
Justice Solome Bossa has extensive knowledge and experience in the law, human rights and women’s rights. In 2014, she was elected Judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, for a six-year term. She served as Judge at the Uganda High Court from 1997 until 2013. She was a member of the East African Court of Justice for five years, from 2001 until 2006. She was a member of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (UNICTR) from 2003 until 2013.
Making of a Judge at ICC
The International Criminal Court consist of 18 judges, organised into three chambers the Pre-Trial Chamber, Trial Chamber and Appeals Chamber which carry out the judicial functions of the Court. Judges are elected to the Court by the Assembly of States Parties. They serve nine-year terms and are not generally eligible for re-election. All judges must be nationals of states parties to the Rome Statute, and no two judges may be nationals of the same state. They must be “persons of high moral character, impartiality and integrity who possess the qualifications required in their respective States for appointment to the highest judicial offices”.
