Professor Margaret deGuzman Appointed to International Court

António Guterres, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, has appointed Professor Margaret deGuzman to the roster of Judges of the International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (the Mechanism). Professor deGuzman will fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Judge Theodor Meron in November 2021.

The Mechanism was established by the UN Security Council in 2010 to carry out the essential residual functions of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda and the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, which closed in 2015 and 2017, respectively. It has branches in Arusha, Tanzania, and The Hague, the Netherlands. Its 25 judges preside over trials and appeals for people accused of genocide, crimes against humanity, and war crimes, as well as deciding matters involving victim and witness protection, assistance to national jurisdictions, enforcement of sentences, and the investigation and trial of allegations of false testimony and contempt.

Professor deGuzman is a leading scholar of international criminal law and the author of Shocking the Conscience of Humanity: Gravity and the Legitimacy of International Criminal Law (Oxford University Press 2020). She lectures and consults around the world on topics related to international criminal law and transitional justice. At Temple, she is co-director of the Institute for International Law and Public Policy and a James E. Beasley Professor of Law. She also serves as Senior Legal Advisor to the Public International Law & Policy Group in Washington, D.C., and is co-chair of the Women in International Law Interest Group of the American Society of International Law.

When asked to comment on her appointment, Professor deGuzman said: “I am honored to have been given this opportunity to serve the international community and the people of former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. The work of the Mechanism is essential to the promotion of justice for serious international crimes, and I look forward to working with the other judges and staff in pursuit of that objective.”