Christine, Baroness Van den Wyngaert (born 2 April 1952) is a Belgian jurist and judge. She served as international and comparative

criminal law Criminal law is the body of law that relates to crime. It proscribes conduct perceived as threatening, harmful, or otherwise endangering to the property, health, safety, and Well-being, welfare of people inclusive of one's self. Most criminal l ...

expert from 2009 to 2018 as a judge on 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 ...

. She served in the Trial Division Chamber. On 8 July 2013, Van den Wyngaert was ennobled by King

Albert II of Belgium Albert II (born 6 June 1934) is a member of the Belgian royal family who reigned as King of the Belgians from 9 August 1993 until his abdication on 21 July 2013. Albert II is the son of King Leopold III and the last living child of Queen As ...

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 The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

, and from 2000 to 2002 an ad hoc judge on the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

Career

Early career

*1974: Law degree from

Vrije Universiteit Brussel The Vrije Universiteit Brussel (Dutch language, Dutch, ; lit. Free University of Brussels; abbreviated VUB) is a Dutch- and English-speaking research university in Brussels, Belgium. It has four campuses: Brussels Humanities, Science and Engine ...

, Belgium; *1970s: Alternative career as singer-songwriter, performing (among others) with

Ferre Grignard Ferre Grignard (13 March 1939 – 8 August 1982) was a Belgian skiffle-singer from Antwerp, Belgium. He had success with a number of songs, such as "Ring Ring, I've Got To Sing", "Yama, Yama, Hey", and "My Crucified Jesus". Biography Ferre ...

and Wannes Van de Velde, and resulting in a Long Play recording; *1979: PhD in law, University of Brussels, Belgium; *1980: PhD thesis awarded with the Henri Rolin-prize; *From 1985: Professor criminal law at the

University of Antwerp The University of Antwerp () is a major Belgian university located in the city of Antwerp. The official abbreviation is ''UAntwerp''. The University of Antwerp has about 20,000 students, which makes it the third-largest university in Flanders. ...

; *Visiting

Fellow A fellow is a title and form of address for distinguished, learned, or skilled individuals in academia, medicine, research, and industry. The exact meaning of the term differs in each field. In learned society, learned or professional society, p ...

of the Centre for European Legal Studies (1994–1996) and of the Research Centre for International Law (1996–1997) at the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

; *2001: Visiting professor at the

University of Stellenbosch Stellenbosch University (SU) (, ) is a public research university situated in Stellenbosch, a town in the Western Cape province of South Africa. Stellenbosch is the oldest university in South Africa and the oldest extant university in Sub-Sahara ...

; *2000–2002: Ad hoc Judge at the

in the Yerodia case;

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

*2003–2005:

Ad litem ''Ad litem'' (Latin: "for the suit") is a term used in law to refer to the appointment by a court of one party to act in a lawsuit on behalf of another party such as a child or an incapacitated adult, who is deemed incapable of representing him ...

Judge at the

;

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

Biographical Note Judge Christine VAN DEN WYNGAERT
/ref> *From 17 November 2005 (term till 2009): Permanent Judge 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 , (born 1956
. ICC. Retrieve ...

and

Chile Eboe-Osuji 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 M ...

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 Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta ( born 26 October 1961) is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022. The son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, he previously served as Prime Minister of Kenya, Deputy Pri ...

and

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, ...

after questioning the conduct of the prosecution under Fatou Bensouda. When Congolese

warlord Warlords are individuals who exercise military, Economy, economic, and Politics, political control over a region, often one State collapse, without a strong central or national government, typically through informal control over Militia, local ...

Germain Katanga Germain Katanga (; born 28 April 1978), also known by his nom de guerre Simba (), is a Congolese former rebel leader and the former head of the Patriotic Resistance Force in Ituri (FRPI), an armed group in the Ituri Province of the Democratic R ...

was convicted in March 2014 of being an accessory to one count of

crime against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

and

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

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. In her

dissenting opinion A dissenting opinion (or dissent) is an Legal opinion, opinion in a legal case in certain legal systems written by one or more judges expressing disagreement with the majority opinion of the court which gives rise to its judgment. Dissenting opi ...

, 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.Thomas Escritt (7 March 2014)
Congo warlord's conviction brings relief to international court
''

Reuters Reuters ( ) is a news agency owned by Thomson Reuters. It employs around 2,500 journalists and 600 photojournalists in about 200 locations worldwide writing in 16 languages. Reuters is one of the largest news agencies in the world. The agency ...

''. 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. 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.

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 Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

. She has also served as

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

for the

International Law Association The International Law Association (ILA) is a non-profit organisation based in Great Britain that — according to its constitution — promotes "the study, clarification and development of international law" and "the furtherance of international ...

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 An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hono ...

at the

University of Uppsala Uppsala University (UU) () is a public research university in Uppsala, Sweden. Founded in 1477, it is the oldest university in Sweden and the Nordic countries still in operation. Initially founded in the 15th century, the university rose to s ...

; *2006: Human Rights prize from Liga voor Mensenrechten. VRT news site 10 December 2006
Chris Van Den Wyngaert awarded
/ref> *2009:

at the University of Brussels (2009).

References

Bibliography

A list of publications by Van Den Wyngaert up to 2004 is enclosed i
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, . *(In Dutch:) Van Den Wyngaert, C. ''Strafrecht en strafprocesrecht in hoofdlijnen''. 1991. 11th revised edition: ''Strafrecht en strafprocesrecht in hoofdlijnen''. Gompel&Svacina, 2019, .

As (co-)editor

* Van Den Wyngaert, C. et al. ''Criminal procedure systems in the European Community''. Butterworths, 1993, . * Van Den Wyngaert, C. et al. ''International Criminal Law and Procedure''. Dartmouth - Ashgate, 1996, . * Van Den Wyngaert, C. et al. ''International Criminal Law: A Collection of International and European Instruments''. Brill Academic Publishers, **1996,
description
at

Alibris Alibris is an online store that sells new books, used books, out-of-print books, rare books, and other media through an online network of independent booksellers. History Martin Manley founded Alibris in 1997 with the team behind early ...

); **2000, ; **2005, .