Tunisian jurist elected as judge to Hague-based ICC

The 22nd session of the Assembly of State Parties to the Rome Statue elected Wednesday December 6 in New York Tunisian jurist Haykel Ben Mahfoudh as judge to Hague-based International Criminal Court (ICC) for a period of nine years.

Mahfoudh, Prof. of Public international Law received 86 votes for the election, the highest vote received by the applicant judges. The election makes him the first Tunisian and Arab jurist to serve at the Court that was created in 2002.

Mahfoudh has been since January last year Director of Montreal-based Mission Universitaire de Tunisie en Amérique du Nord (MUTAN), an organization that manages the various scholarship programs offered to Tunisian students studying in North American universities.

According to his LinkedIn page, he has distinguished knowledge of international humanitarian law and comparative legal systems, and decades of experience as a legal practitioner, and recognized expertise in security governance and victim protection, peace processes and State reconstruction.

He has published numerous referenced books, papers, and chapters, primarily in the field of protection of environment in times of armed conflict and on victims in international law.

ICC’s website also notes that the Tunisia international law expert holds a PhD in International Humanitarian Law from the University of Carthage. His doctoral thesis on “The protection of the environment in times of armed conflict” was defended in 2005.