The International Criminal Court lost its first judge this month. Judge Hudson-Phillips was the former Attorney General for Trinidad and Tobago. Following is the ICC’s official announcement:
Judge Karl T. Hudson-Phillips submitted his resignation from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for personal reasons on 14 March 2007. His resignation will take effect on 30 September 2007.
The President of the ICC, Judge Philippe Kirsch, thanked Judge Hudson-Phillips for his important contributions to establishing the judicial foundations of the Court. As “dean of the judges,” Judge Hudson-Phillips had chaired the first meetings of judges before the election of the Presidency. He also contributed actively to the drafting of the Regulations of the Court. President Kirsch expressed the ICC’s deep regret at his resignation and forthcoming departure from the Court.
Judge Hudson-Phillips has extensive private practice experience in his native Trinidad and Tobago and throughout the Commonwealth Caribbean countries. He had also previously served as Attorney-General and Minister of Legal Affairs of Trinidad and Tobago before his election to the ICC. Judge Hudson-Phillips had been assigned to the Trial Division. Pending the beginning of the first trials, he was not serving on a full-time basis at the seat of the Court.
President Kirsch informed the President of the Bureau of the Assembly of States Parties, H.E. Bruno Stagno Ugarte, of Judge Hudson-Phillips’s resignation. In accordance with article 37 of the Rome Statute, the Assembly of States Parties will elect a judge to fill the vacancy left by Judge Hudson-Phillips’s resignation.
