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The postmortem of the #ICC Prosecutor election will be long and brutal. The Bureau’s failure to ensure proper vetting was unconscionable — and must be corrected before the next judicial election. And I’m sure we will hear stories of the usual vote-trading and backroom deals.
2. But let’s give states a bit of credit. When Karim (re-)entered the race, the response was essentially unanimous: there was no way in hell states were going to give the UK the Registry, the OTP, and a judgeship. And yet that is exactly what they did.
3. Love Karim or hate him, agree or disagree with the result, states were obviously driven by the desire to elect the person they believed would be the best choice for Prosecutor. Nationalism (except for their own candidates, which will never be eliminated) was a distant second.
4. Let’s also not sell Karim short and attribute this win to the UK government. They lobbied intensively for him over the past couple of weeks, but before that they did almost nothing — putting all their symbolic-capital eggs in the Judge Korner basket.
5. The UK government only really stepped up when Karim vaulted into the lead after the third consultation. And the Tories’ ongoing contempt for international law didn’t help Karim, as people tried, ridiculously, to tar him with it — see, e.g., the Chagos article in the Guardian.
6. When I was one of Karadzic’s legal associates, a senior prosecutor at the ICTY told me that Karim was the only defence attorney that her office was terrified to meet in court. If you have ever seen him, you will know why she said that. He’s a spectacular lawyer.
7. This is why the thinly-veiled hostility to electing a defence attorney (one who has also prosecuted and represented victims…) always baffled me. Who better to be a great prosecutor than someone who has been a great defence attorney? The experience is invaluable.
8. I’ll end at the beginning: by noting we all owe a debt of thanks to @atlas_women, @OSFJustice, @DanyaChaikel, @marianacpena and many others for tirelessly keeping alive the demand for better vetting and stronger protections for women and men against all forms of harassment.
9. I hope everyone will keep an open mind when I say that they will find an ally in @KarimKhanQC. There is a reason why he inspires such loyalty in those who have worked with and for him. (See @SaretaAshraph’s thread a few days ago for an example.)
10. Finally, I want to second what @sevslv said: #FergalGaynor would have made a fine Prosecutor and will no doubt continue to make important contributions to international justice.
