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States Parties/ASP Elections 2011
Terms of Reference
According to its Terms of Reference, the Search
Committee could receive expressions of interest
in the position from individuals, States, regional
and international organisations, civil society,
professional associations and other sources
and could actively search for and informally
approach suitable candidates. 352 States could
also formally nominate candidates outside of
this process, but were actively encouraged to
use the mechanism of the Search Committee. 353
Subsequent to receiving these expressions of
interest, the Search Committee submitted a
shortlist to the ASP Bureau for consideration,
taking into account the applicable criteria, in
particular those set out in Article 42. The Terms
of Reference did not elaborate further on criteria
that might be applied beyond those set out in
Article 42, the particular procedures the Search
Committee would use to arrive at the short list
of candidates, or a schedule of meetings or time
frame for stages of the process.
Composition of the
Search Committee
The Terms of Reference for the Search Committee
called for regional representation, in that the
Bureau would designate one representative per
regional group to serve on the Committee. 354
However, according to the final report, the
352 Candidates must fulfil the qualification requirements
contained in Article 42 of the Rome Statute. This section
adopts the Search Committee’s terminology in referring
to ‘candidates’, however, the process up to 29 November
has not been a formal nomination process and there
are therefore no formal candidatures until a formal
nomination is made by 9 December 2011, according to
the Note Verbale of 28 November 2011 extending the
nomination period until 9 December.
353 ASP Bureau Search Committee, Terms of Reference of 6
December 2010 (ICC-ASP/9/INF.2), para 3. In his statement
of 22 July 2011, the President of the Assembly said he
welcomed the fact that States have shown their respect
for this process by refraining from submitting formal
nominations and campaign activities, see ICC-ASP-
20110722-PR703.
354 ICC-ASP/9/INF.2, para 4.
Search Committee claims that members
served in their personal capacities and not as
representatives of their states. The report also
notes that members recused themselves from
interviews and discussions regarding the merits
of candidates who had their same nationality. 355
The Terms of Reference did not contain any
provisions for gender representation on the
Search Committee, nor was there any leadership
provided by the ASP Bureau to ensure gender
balance or gender representation. Consequently,
all five members appointed to the Search
Committee were men.
The five members of the Committee were from
Jordan (Asia), Slovakia (Eastern Europe), South
Africa (Africa), Mexico (GRULAC) and the UK
(WEOG). 356 With the exception of Slovakia, all
of these countries are also represented on the
ASP Bureau, 357 the body to which the Search
Committee transmitted its recommendations
of a ‘shortlist of at least three suitable
candidates, where possible for consideration
by the Bureau for the final candidates for chief
prosecutor’. 358 As such, the Search Committee
was composed in such a way that could give rise
to a disproportionate representation of these
countries in the decision-making process. 359
355 ASP/2011/117, paras 10, 23. The Search Committee report,
however, does not indicate which members recused
themselves of which interviews.
356 Members of the Search Committee: Coordinator – Prince
Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein (Jordan – Asia); Deputy
Coordinator – Miloš Koterec (Slovakia – Eastern Europe);
Baso Sangqu (South Africa – Africa); Joel Hernández
(Mexico – GRULAC) and Sir Daniel Bethlehem (UK – WEOG).
357 In addition to Jordan, Mexico, South Africa and the UK,
which all serve on the Search Committee as well as on
the ASP Bureau, the other members of the Bureau are:
Australia, Brazil, Burkina Faso, Estonia, Gabon, Georgia,
Japan, Kenya, Liechtenstein, Nigeria, Norway, Romania,
Samoa, Slovenia, Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, and
Venezuela.
358 ICC-ASP/9/INF.2, para 6.
359 Of these, two countries had candidates who were
shortlisted amongst the final eight interviewed for the
position.
103