Nairobi, Kenya (PANA) – International Criminal Court (ICC) Judge Hans-Peter Kaul, who issued dissenting opinions on the trial of Kenyan President and his Deputy at The Hague-based Court, has died after a serious illness, the Court said Tuesday.
“We are deeply saddened to announce that former ICC Judge, Hans-Peter Kaul, passed away on July 21, 2014, after a period of serious illness, which led him to resign from the Court with effect from July 1, 2014,” the ICC said in a statement.
The German Judge declined to characterize the 2007-2008 post-election violence in Kenya as crimes against humanity in the March 2010 ruling at the pre-trial hearing of the case against President Uhuru Kenyatta and deputy William Ruto and four others.
In the 11 years of his service at the ICC, Justice Peter-Kaul was the President of the Court’s pre-trial Chamber. He was the Division’s President from 2004 to 2009 and from April 8, 2014 until his resignation due to illness, the Court said.
ICC President Sang-Hyun Song, mourned the departed Judge as an “enormous loss” for the ICC.
“We will long remember him with respect and admiration on a personal and professional level, for his relentless commitment and extensive contributions to international justice,” the ICC President said.
Justice Sang remembered the German jurist as a role model who dedicated his career to reshaping international justice.
“Judge Kaul was a driving force in the creation of the Rome Statute, in the establishment of the ICC, and in many of the decisions rendered in the situations and cases before the Court in its history thus far ,” the Court President said.
The Judge presided over the cases involving African conflicts, from the case against the Ugandan Lords Resistance Movement (LRA), the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Darfur (Sudan), the Central African Republic, Kenya, Libya and Cote d’Ivoire.
President of the Assembly of States Parties, Ambassador Tiina Intelmann, recalled “the vital contribution of Judge Kaul to the establishment of Court as head of the German delegation during the talks leading to the adoption of the Rome Statute.
“He leaves an important legacy of contributions to the jurisprudence of the Court. Judge Kaul will be remembered for his multi-faceted and unrelenting support to the cause of international criminal justice,” she said.
Judge Kaul served as an ICC Judge for 11 years. In the first elections of ICC judges in February 2003, he was elected by the States Parties to the Rome Statute for a three-year term and assumed his duty on March 11, 2003.
