Center for International Law and Policy in Africa (CILPA)
Biography
Professional profile
Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji served as President of the International Criminal Court from 11 March 2018 to 11 March 2021. During his term as President, he also served as a senior judge in the Appeals Chamber of the Court until 31 March 2021, when he finally retired from the Court.
Before that, Judge Eboe-Osuji served as a trial judge at the International Criminal Court from March 2012 to 11 March 2018, also serving as President of the Trial Division of the Court. During his time as a trial judge, he presided over the trial of the Vice President of Kenya.
Prior to joining the International Criminal Court, Dr. Eboe-Osuji served as Legal Adviser to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. As part of his functions in that capacity, he led the High Commissioner’s interventions in court cases involving human rights questions, notably writing amicus curiae submissions to the European Court of Human Rights and the United States Supreme Court. At the time, he also held a cross-appointment as principal appeals counsel for the prosecution in the Charles Taylor case at the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.
Earlier in his career, Dr. Eboe-Osuji held several posts at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, also known as the Rwanda genocide tribunal, including as a senior prosecutor and, at a different time, as a senior legal officer assisting judges in drafting judgments.
Before joining the international public service, Dr. Eboe-Osuji practised law as a courtroom advocate before trial courts in Canada and Nigeria. In addition to his work as trial counsel, he also argued appeals before the Court of Appeal for Ontario in Canada and the Supreme Court of Canada.
Since completing his term at the International Criminal Court, Judge Eboe-Osuji has held current or recent affiliations with several universities and institutions, including the Faculty of Law at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Ryerson University, Toronto, where he served as Distinguished International Jurist and Special Adviser to the University President; the University of Windsor, Ontario, Canada, where he served as Paul Martin Senior Professor; Stanford Law School, where he served as visiting professor; the University of Toronto Faculty of Law, where he served as distinguished visiting professor; Santa Clara University, where he served as sessional professor; and the Carr Center of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University, where he served as senior fellow.
Judge Eboe-Osuji has also taught international criminal law as an adjunct professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa, Canada.
He has an extensive record of legal scholarship and publications, including the books International Law and Sexual Violence in Armed Conflicts and Protecting Humanity, which he edited. He is also the Editor-in-Chief of the Nigerian Yearbook of International Law.
He received his Ph.D. from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands, with a thesis in international criminal law. Before that, he received his Master of Laws degree from McGill University in Canada, where he also completed his Canadian law degree accreditation studies. He received his Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Calabar in Nigeria. He has also received an honorary Doctor of the University degree from Middlesex University in England and the Gold Medal of honorary patronage of the Philosophical Society of Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland.
