Chris van den Wyngaert

Christine, Baroness Van den Wyngaert (born 2 April 1952) is a Belgian jurist and judge. She served as international and comparative criminal law expert from 2009 to 2018 as a judge on the International Criminal Court.^[1] She served in the Trial Division Chamber. On 8 July 2013, Van den Wyngaert was ennobled by King Albert II of Belgium as a baroness for her services as a judge. From 2003 to 2005 she was a Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and from 2000 to 2002 an ad hoc judge on the International Court of Justice.

Baroness Christine Van Den Wyngaert
Judge of the International Criminal Court
In office 11 March 2009 – 10 March 2018
Nominated by	Belgium
Appointed by	Assembly of States Parties
Personal details
Born	(1952-04-02) 2 April 1952 (age 72) Antwerp, Belgium
Alma mater	Vrije Universiteit Brussel
Profession	Teaching, Jurist, Judge, Lawyer

Career

Early career

• 1974: Law degree from Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium;^[2]
• 1970s: Alternative career as singer-songwriter, performing (among others) with Ferre Grignard and Wannes Van de Velde, and resulting in a Long Play recording;^[3][4]
• 1979: PhD in law, University of Brussels, Belgium;^[2]
• 1980: PhD thesis awarded with the Henri Rolin-prize;
• From 1985: Professor criminal law at the University of Antwerp;
• Visiting Fellow of the Centre for European Legal Studies (1994–1996) and of the Research Centre for International Law (1996–1997) at the University of Cambridge;^[5]
• 2001: Visiting professor at the University of Stellenbosch;
• 2000–2002: Ad hoc Judge at the International Court of Justice in the Yerodia case;^[2][6]

Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, 2003–2009

• 2003–2005: Ad litem Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia;^[2][7]
• From 17 November 2005 (term till 2009): Permanent Judge^[2][8] at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.

Judge of the International Criminal Court, 2009–2018

In March 2012, the Presidency of the ICC announced that Van Den Wyngaert and her fellow judges Kuniko Ozaki and Chile Eboe-Osuji would form Trial Chamber V, which was responsible for the prosecutor's investigation in Kenya. By April 2013, Van Den Wyngaert asked to be excused from hearing a crimes-against-humanity case against Uhuru Kenyatta and William Ruto after questioning the conduct of the prosecution under Fatou Bensouda.^[9]

When Congolese warlord Germain Katanga was convicted in March 2014 of being an accessory to one count of crime against humanity and war crimes including murder and pillage – only the second conviction in the 12-year history of the ICC –, Van den Wyngaert partially disagreed with her two fellow judges Fatoumata Dembele Diarra and Bruno Cotte.^[10] In her dissenting opinion, she argued Katanga's trial had lasted too long and that he should have been acquitted in 2013 along with his co-accused Mathieu Ngudjolo.^[11] She also held that Katanga was not intentionally responsible for the crimes and said it was unfair to convict him as an accessory when he had originally been charged with being central to the crimes' commission.^[11]

In June 2014 she wrote a dissenting opinion during the pre-trial of the case The Prosecutor v. Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé, holding she was unable to join her colleagues in their decision to confirm the charges against Laurent Gbagbo and that in her view that the evidence was still insufficient.^[12]

Other activities

Van den Wyngaert is on the steering committee for The Crimes Against Humanity Initiative, which was launched in 2008 to study the need for a new comprehensive global convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity.^[13]

She has also served as rapporteur for the International Law Association on extradition and human rights and a general reporter for the Association Internationale de Droit Pénal in Budapest relating to international cooperation to combat organized crime.

Recognition

• 2001: doctor honoris causa at the University of Uppsala;^[2]
• 2006: Human Rights prize from Liga voor Mensenrechten.^[4][14]
• 2009: doctor honoris causa at the University of Brussels (2009).^[15]

References

1. "ICC - Judge Christine Baroness VAN DEN WYNGAERT (Belgium)". Archived from the original on 8 April 2014. Retrieved 7 April 2014.
2. United Nations: Biographical Note Judge Christine VAN DEN WYNGAERT
3. (In Dutch:) Website of Humanistisch Vrijzinnige Vereniging Antwerpen: Een wereld van ontmoetingen - Chris Van de Wyngaert Archived 28 September 2007 at the Wayback Machine ("A world of encounters: Chris Van de Wyngaert")
4. VRT news site 10 December 2006: Chris Van Den Wyngaert awarded
5. Lex Mercatoria website: CRIME WITHOUT BORDERS Archived 13 February 2007 at the Wayback Machine - The 2nd Annual Conference of The International Criminal Law Association 15 June 2001 - Conference brochure Archived 28 April 2005 at the Wayback Machine
6. "Arrest Warrant of 11 April 2000 (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Belgium)". International Court of Justice. Archived from the original on 13 March 2007. Retrieved 3 August 2007.
7. United Nations, 16 December 2003: Judges Christine Van Den Wyngaert and Krister Thelin Sworn in as Ad Litem Judges of the ICTY
8. Federal Public Service Foreign Affairs Belgium, 19 November 2004: Professor Christine Van den Wyngaert elected as Permanent Judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia
9. ICC judge withdraws from Kenyan leaders' case Al Jazeera, 27 April 2013.
10. Michael Kavanagh (7 March 2014), Congo Rebel Leader Found Guilty of Crimes Against Humanity Bloomberg Business.
11. Thomas Escritt (7 March 2014), Congo warlord's conviction brings relief to international court Reuters.
12. "Dissenting Opinion of Judge Christine Van den Wyngaert". International Criminal Court.
13. "Crimes Against Humanity Initiative" Archived 10 August 2017 at the Wayback Machine The Whitney R. Harris World Law Institute
14. (In Dutch:) Liga voor Mensenrechten website Archived 19 December 2006 at the Wayback Machine: Programme of "Prijs voor Mensenrechten" award, 10 December 2006
15. "Dr. Christine van den Wyngaert « Crimes Against Humanity Initiative". Archived from the original on 18 May 2015. Retrieved 11 May 2015.

• Belgium portal
• Law portal

Bibliography

A list of publications by Van Den Wyngaert up to 2004 is enclosed in CV Judge Van den Wijngaert at the Foreign Affairs Belgium website.

As author

• Van Den Wyngaert, C. Political Offence Exception to Extradition: The Delicate Problem of Balancing the Rights of the Individual and the International Public Order. Kluwer Academic, 1980, ISBN 90-268-1185-3.
• (In Dutch:) Van Den Wyngaert, C. Strafrecht en strafprocesrecht in hoofdlijnen. 1991. 11th revised edition: Strafrecht en strafprocesrecht in hoofdlijnen. Gompel&Svacina, 2019, ISBN 978 94 6371 154 8.

As (co-)editor

• Van Den Wyngaert, C. et al. Criminal procedure systems in the European Community. Butterworths, 1993, ISBN 0-406-02276-3.
• Van Den Wyngaert, C. et al. International Criminal Law and Procedure. Dartmouth - Ashgate, 1996, ISBN 1-85521-835-6.
• Van Den Wyngaert, C. et al. International Criminal Law: A Collection of International and European Instruments. Brill Academic Publishers,
  • 1996, ISBN 90-411-0303-1 (description at Alibris);
  • 2000, ISBN 90-411-1443-2;
  • 2005, ISBN 90-04-14294-0.

Further reading

• University of Antwerp website: Criminal law/international criminal law - C. Van den Wyngaert - Current research topics.