More Kenyans 'admitted' to Hague court advocates' roll

Lawyer Paul Gicheru, who is suspected of corruptly influencing court witnesses in Kenya in 2013, at the ICC earlier this month. [File, Standard]

The number of Kenyan lawyers accredited to practice at the International Criminal Court (ICC) has almost tripled in the last seven years. 

There are now 61 Kenyan lawyers accredited by the ICC, from the 26 in 2013 when President Uhuru Kenyatta, his deputy William Ruto and four other Kenyans were facing crimes against humanity charges at the court.

It is a list that has the names of Kenya's best legal minds — senior counsels operating big firms as well as retired senior judges.

Former attorneys general Amos Wako and Githu Muigai, Kangema MP Muturi Kigano, Solicitor General Kennedy Ogeto, National Lands Commission (NLC) chair Gerishom Otachi, Senior Counsel George Oraro, lawyers Kioko Kilukumi, Philip Murgor, Katwa Kigen, Evans Monari are some of the most known names in the elite club.

Others are retired Court of Appeal Judge Richard Kwach, Julie Oseko, who served the Judiciary as a magistrate for 20 years, and former magistrate Francis Kadima as well as Kenneth Wandugi and John Chigiti.

Judge of the UK’s First-Tier Tribunal and Deputy Judge of the Upper Tribunal Sureta Chana is also accredited. He headlines a list of Kenyan legal experts who have served in international tribunals and the ICC for years.  

Chana, who was a State counsel in Kenya, served the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) as a trial attorney and represented 325 victims at the ICC in the case against President Kenyatta.

Otachi and Ogeto held briefs for influential Rwandans accused of genocide at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR). Ogeto also represented Morris Kallon at the United Nations Special Court for Sierra Leone. Kenya’s Anna Osure, who has worked at ICTY for years, is also accredited by the ICC.

On the list of assistants, counsels are 22 Kenyans, including the assistant counsel for legal representative for victims in the case against Uganda’s Dominic Ongwen at the ICC, Anushka Sehmi. Ongwen, an alleged former brigade commander of the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), is facing crimes against humanity charges.

According to ICC’s guide for applicants, a lawyer seeking to be accredited by the court must have a high standing in the profession. Applicants must not have been convicted of any serious criminal or disciplinary offence considered to be incompatible with the nature of office of counsel before the court.

“In cases where candidates have been the object of such a conviction, the registrar will assess whether the imposed sanction is of a nature that impedes the candidate’s ability to act before the court in accordance with the relevant provisions of the legal texts of the court,” reads part of the document.

It further states that candidates in this situation are invited, at the time of submitting their applications, to provide the court with a copy of each relevant decision, as well as any observations they wish to provide. 

As for legal assistants, they must have five years of relevant experience in criminal proceedings. Those lacking such qualification can be considered to provide useful assistance to the counsel in preparing and presenting the case before the chamber.

“The court also seeks to allow counsel to receive the assistance of professors and other academic experts who have relevant expertise in international or criminal law. Even where these persons may have insufficient or no experience in criminal proceedings, their theoretical knowledge of the relevant law and jurisprudence makes them an invaluable asset to legal teams,” the guide for applicants stipulates.