Chile Eboe-Osuji (born 2 September 1962) is a Nigerian jurist. He is an incoming Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice, an International Jurist at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, a Special Advisor to the President's Office at

Toronto Metropolitan University Toronto Metropolitan University (TMU, or Toronto Met), formerly Ryerson University, is a Public university, public research university located in Toronto, Canada. The university's core campus is situated within the Garden District, Toronto, Gar ...

, and a Member of the Media Freedom Coalition's High Level Panel of Legal Experts on Media Freedom. Eboe-Osuji served as the President of the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

(ICC),

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

from March 2018 to March 2021. The Nigerian-born Eboe-Osuji was also concurrently serving as a senior judge in the Appeals Division of the ICC during this time. In his role at the Lincoln Alexander School of Law, Eboe-Osuji leads discussions on the international human rights regime, the international humanitarian law regime, the role of international courts and tribunals, and the rule of law. Prior to his work with the International Criminal Court, he was the Legal Advisor to the

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) is a department of the United Nations Secretariat that works to promote and protect human rights that are guaranteed under international law and stipulated in the Univers ...

in Geneva. He also served at various times as a senior prosecutor at both the

International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR; ; ) was an international court, international ''ad-hoc'' court established in November 1994 by the United Nations Security Council in United Nations Security Council Resolution 955, Resolutio ...

and the

Special Court for Sierra Leone The Special Court for Sierra Leone, or the "Special Court" (SCSL), also called the Sierra Leone Tribunal, was a judicial body set up by the government of Sierra Leone and the United Nations to "prosecute persons who bear the greatest responsibi ...

Early life and education

Eboe-Osuji was born in Anara, in what is now Isiala Mbano,

Imo State Imo () is a States of Nigeria, state in the South East (Nigeria), South-East geopolitical zone of Nigeria, bordered to the north by Anambra State, Rivers State to the west and south, and Abia State to the east. It takes its name from the Imo R ...

, Nigeria, on 2 September 1962. He obtained his bachelor of laws degree from the University of Calabar, Nigeria, master of laws degree from

McGill University McGill University (French: Université McGill) is an English-language public research university in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Founded in 1821 by royal charter,Frost, Stanley Brice. ''McGill University, Vol. I. For the Advancement of Learning, ...

Montreal, Quebec Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

, Canada, and doctor of laws degree from the

University of Amsterdam The University of Amsterdam (abbreviated as UvA, ) is a public university, public research university located in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Established in 1632 by municipal authorities, it is the fourth-oldest academic institution in the Netherlan ...

, the Netherlands.

Career

Eboe-Osuji was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1986 and practised briefly there. After obtaining his master of laws degree from McGill in 1991, he worked as a barrister in Canada, having been called to the Bar in Ontario and in British Columbia in 1993. From 1997 to 2005, Eboe-Osuji worked at the

as prosecution counsel and senior legal officer to the judges of the tribunal. From 2005 to 2007, he worked in Canada as a barrister and law lecturer. Working for the

as senior prosecution appeals counsel in 2007/08 and returning to the ICTR from 2008 to 2010 as Head of Chambers, he became the Legal Advisor to the

Navi Pillay in 2010, and held a cross-appointment as the principal prosecution appeals counsel at the

, in the case of Charles Taylor, the former President of

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

. He has authored two books and numerous law journal articles in international law.

Judge of the International Criminal Court, 2012–2021

On 16 December 2011, Eboe-Osuji was elected as a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

of the

. He won the office in the fifteenth ballot in the Assembly of States Parties. He took office on 11 March 2012. From September 2013, Eboe-Osuji – alongside Judges Olga Venecia Herrera Carbuccia and Robert Fremr – presided over the trial against

Deputy President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...

William Ruto William Kipchirchir Samoei Arap Ruto (born 21 January 1967) is a Kenyan politician who is the fifth and current president of Kenya since 13 September 2022. Prior to becoming president, he served as the first elected Deputy President of Kenya, ...

Kenya Kenya, officially the Republic of Kenya, is a country located in East Africa. With an estimated population of more than 52.4 million as of mid-2024, Kenya is the 27th-most-populous country in the world and the 7th most populous in Africa. ...

, who was accused of stoking a wave of killing for political gain after the country's contested 2007 elections. Early on, he warned Kenyan media and bloggers that anyone revealing the identity of a protected witness at the Ruto trial could be guilty of contempt of court; ICC chief prosecutor Fatou Bensouda had previously complained that some witnesses were being intimidated in Kenya, some of whom withdrew from the case. Following Eboe-Osuji's own request, the Presidency of the ICC decided to reconstitute Trial Chamber V(b) in the trial against Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta and replace him with Judge Geoffrey Henderson in early 2014. However, Eboe-Osuji remained the Presiding Judge in Trial Chamber V(a) which continued to hear the case against Ruto and former Kass FM broadcaster Joshua Sang until his term at the court ended in 2021. In April 2014, his chamber issued

subpoena A subpoena (; also subpœna, supenna or subpena) or witness summons is a writ issued by a government agency, most often a court, to compel testimony by a witness or production of evidence under a penalty for failure. There are two common types of ...

s for several prosecution witnesses no longer willing to testify in the case. Shortly after, Eboe-Osuji told off the government of Kenya for turning to the principle of

sovereignty Sovereignty can generally be defined as supreme authority. Sovereignty entails hierarchy within a state as well as external autonomy for states. In any state, sovereignty is assigned to the person, body or institution that has the ultimate au ...

"at every convenient opportunity, with the evident aim of frightening judges".

Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice, 2025–

On 24 March 2025, it was announced that Eboe-Osuji was selected as a Judge of the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) to replace Judge Andrew Burgess, who is set to retire on 11 April 2025. It is expected that Eboe-Osuji will be sworn in as a Judge of the CCJ in April 2025. The CCJ is an international court that serves both to interpret, apply, and resolve disputes arising under the Treaty of Chaguaramas and as the final court of appeal in civil and criminal matters for Member States of the Caribbean Community and Common Market that have amended their constitutions to allow the CCJ to play such a role. As of 2025, the CCJ serves as the final court of appeal for

Barbados Barbados, officially the Republic of Barbados, is an island country in the Atlantic Ocean. It is part of the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies and the easternmost island of the Caribbean region. It lies on the boundary of the South American ...

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

Dominica Dominica, officially the Commonwealth of Dominica, is an island country in the Caribbean. It is part of the Windward Islands chain in the Lesser Antilles archipelago in the Caribbean Sea. The capital, Roseau, is located on the western side of t ...

Guyana Guyana, officially the Co-operative Republic of Guyana, is a country on the northern coast of South America, part of the historic British West Indies. entry "Guyana" Georgetown, Guyana, Georgetown is the capital of Guyana and is also the co ...

, and

Saint Lucia Saint Lucia is an island country of the West Indies in the eastern Caribbean. Part of the Windward Islands of the Lesser Antilles, it is located north/northeast of the island of Saint Vincent (Saint Vincent and the Grenadines), Saint Vincent ...

Other activities

* On 28 April 2022, Eboe-Osuji joined The Right Honourable Kim Campbell, The Right Honourable Beverley McLachlin and The Honourable Bob Rae on a panel to discus
"Canada's Place on the World Stage"
* Distinguished International Jurist ( Lincoln Alexander School of Law at

) * International Gender Champions (IGC), MemberMembers
International Gender Champions (IGC).

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Eboe-Osuji, Chile 1962 births Living people International Criminal Court judges McGill University Faculty of Law alumni Nigerian judges Nigerian judges of international courts and tribunals People from Imo State Presidents of the International Criminal Court University of Amsterdam alumni University of Calabar alumni