|
Philippe Kirsch, Q.C., has been President of the
International Criminal Court and a judge in its Appeals Division since
March 2003.
Previously, Mr. Kirsch was Canada’s ambassador to the
Kingdom of Sweden, his last posting at the service of the Canadian
Government which he joined in 1972. He was also posted to Lima, Peru and
twice to New York at the Canadian Permanent Mission to the United
Nations.
Mr Kirsch has a Bachelor’s and a Master’s degree in
law from the University of Montreal, and has been a member of the Quebec
Bar since 1970. He spent much of his career in the area of international
law.
He held the post of Legal Adviser at the Canadian
Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade and various other
positions within the Department’s Legal Affairs Bureau. He has
represented Canada in several international legal disputes, and was twice
ambassador and agent of the Government of Canada at the International
Court of Justice.
Mr Kirsch has participated in a number of
international legal bodies, notably the Sixth Committee of the United
Nations General Assembly, which he chaired in 1982.
Over the years, he has remained actively involved in
the development of international law. In particular, he chaired the
Committee of the Whole of the Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries
on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court and the
Preparatory Commission for the International Criminal Court.
He has also presided over the development of a
considerable number of treaties and other instruments in various fields,
including the suppression of acts of terrorism and the protection of
United Nations personnel, as well as humanitarian conferences.
Mr Kirsch has written a considerable number of
articles and papers, specializing in international law, the United
Nations and the International Criminal Court.
|
