ICC lawyers given training boost

The European Commission has given almost a million Euros to the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE) to develop a training programme for lawyers appearing before the International Criminal Court (ICC), which was formally inaugurated last week.

The move comes at a time when there is a dispute over conflicting codes of conduct for lawyers acting at the ICC, and also an International Bar Association (IBA) call for Zimbabwe president Robert Mugabe to be the first person tried by the court.

The 980,000 (675,000) was awarded to the CCBE in association with the Academy of European Law in Trier, Germany.

It will be spent on two projects - firstly, the direct training of 100 lawyers from central and eastern Europe.

They will be selected through objective tests on criteria, and will take part in four week-long courses where they will learn about issues such as international law, the background to the ICC, and how to appear before the court.

The second project is an on-line portal where training material will be posted by the academy.

The CCBE's secretary-general, solicitor Jonathan Goldsmith, said: 'The EC particularly liked our scheme because it will create material that can be used by a wider group of people than just those who attend the courses.'

Mr Goldsmith said some members of the CCBE have expressed reservations about the disciplinary aspects of the IBA's proposed code of conduct for lawyers appearing before the ICC (see [2003] Gazette, 27 February, 5).

The IBA code proposes that lawyers would be disciplined by their peers and the ICC registrar, superseding the authority of national bars.

This has proved controversial with some bars and law societies.

Mr Goldsmith said: 'At present, there are three codes of conduct proposed for lawyers before the ICC: the IBA's, the International Criminal Bar Association's and the International Association of Prosecutors'.

We are suggesting that the various bodies come together and agree on one unified code.' The ICC is currently recruiting its first prosecutor.

Mark Ellis, the IBA's executive director, said that he was 'very open' to this suggestion, and stressed that the decision on which code to adopt was entirely down to the ICC.

Meanwhile, the IBA has urged all countries involved in the ICC to request that proceedings be initiated against President Mugabe for serious violations of international humanitarian law.

Mr Ellis said the call was intended to remind President Mugabe that he cannot escape from justice.

However, it is thought the Congolese rebel leader Jean-Pierre Bemba could be the first person tried by the court over claims that his movement massacred and ate civilians.

Victoria MacCallum