Short Bio

CHILE EBOE-OSUJI served as the President of the International Criminal Court from 11 March 2018 to 11 March 2021. During his term as President, Judge Eboe-Osuji also served as a senior judge in the Appeals Chamber of the Court until 31 March 2021 when finally retired from the Court. Before all that, Judge Eboe-Osuji served as a trial judge at the Court from March 2012 to 11 March 2018, also putting in service as the President of the Trial Division of the Court. During his time as a trial judge, Judge Eboe-Osuji presided over the trial of the Vice President of Kenya.

Prior to joining the ICC, Dr Eboe-Osuji served as the Legal Advisor to the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights in Geneva. As part of his functions in that capacity, Dr Eboe-Osuji led the High Commissioner’s interventions in court cases involving human rights questions, notably writing the amicus curiae submissions to the European Court of Human Rights and the United States Supreme Court. At the time, Dr Eboe-Osuji also held a cross-appointment as principal appeals counsel for the prosecution in the Charles Taylor Case at the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Earlier in his antecedents, Dr Eboe-Osuji held several posts at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (also known as the Rwanda genocide tribunal), including as a senior prosecutor; and, at a different time, as a senior legal officer that assisted the judges in drafting judgments.

Before joining the international public service, Dr Eboe-Osuji had practiced law as a courtroom advocate before trial courts in Canada and Nigeria. In addition to his work as trial counsel, Dr Eboe-Osuji also argued appeals before the Court of Appeal for Ontario (Canada) and the Supreme Court of Canada.

Since completing his term at the ICC, Judge Eboe-Osuji has current or recent affiliations with the following universities: Faculty of Law (Lincoln Alexander School of Law), Ryerson University, Toronto (Distinguished International Jurist and Special Advisor to the University President); University of Windsor, Windsor, Ontario, Canada (Paul Martin Snr Professor); Stanford University Law School (visiting professor); University of Toronto Law Faculty (distinguished visiting professor); Santa Clara University (sessional professor); Carr Center of Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University 

Judge Eboe-Osuji has also taught international criminal law as adjunct professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Ottawa, Canada.

He has an extensive record of legal scholarship and publications, including the books titled International Law and Sexual Violence in Armed Conflicts, and Protecting Humanity (ed). He is the editor-in-chief of the Nigerian Yearbook of International Law.

He received his PhD from the University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands (with thesis in international criminal law). Before that, he received his Master of Laws (LLM) degree from McGill University, Canada, where he also did his Canadian law degree accreditation studies. He received his Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Calabar, Nigeria. He received an honorary Doctor of the University degree from Middlesex University, England; and the Gold Medal of the honorary patronage of the Philosophical Society of Trinity College, University of Dublin, Ireland.