Marc Perrin de Brichambaut (; born 29 October 1948) is a French career judge and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. From 2011 to 2015 he was the Secretary General of the

Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe The Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) is a regional security-oriented intergovernmental organization comprising member states in Europe, North America, and Asia. Its mandate includes issues such as arms control, the p ...

, and from 2015 to 2024 he was a judge at 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) in The Hague.

Early life and education

Marc Perrin de Brichambaut was born in

Rabat Rabat (, also , ; ) is the Capital (political), capital city of Morocco and the List of cities in Morocco, country's seventh-largest city with an urban population of approximately 580,000 (2014) and a metropolitan population of over 1.2 million. ...

Morocco Morocco, officially the Kingdom of Morocco, is a country in the Maghreb region of North Africa. It has coastlines on the Mediterranean Sea to the north and the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and has land borders with Algeria to Algeria–Morocc ...

in 1948. He graduated from France's

École nationale d'administration The (; ENA; ) was a French ''grande école'', created in 1945 by the then Provisional Government of the French Republic, provisional chief of government Charles de Gaulle and principal co-author of the Constitution of France, 1958 Constitution M ...

in Paris in 1974.

Career

De Brichambaut joined the

Council of State A council of state is a governmental body in a country, or a subdivision of a country, with a function that varies by jurisdiction. It may be the formal name for the cabinet or it may refer to a non-executive advisory body associated with a head ...

, France's supreme court for judicial review, in 1974. In 1983 and 1984, de Brichambaut was

chief of staff The title chief of staff (or head of staff) identifies the leader of a complex organization such as the armed forces, institution, or body of persons and it also may identify a principal staff officer (PSO), who is the coordinator of the supportin ...

to Roland Dumas, then Minister of European Affairs, and after Dumas became

Minister of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and foreign relations, relations, diplomacy, bilateralism, ...

, de Brichambaut continued to serve as his chief of staff. In 1986, he moved to

Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...

, where he worked as cultural Counsellor for the French Embassy, returning to Paris in 1988 as Principal Adviser to

Defense Minister A ministry of defence or defense (see spelling differences), also known as a department of defence or defense, is the part of a government responsible for matters of defence and military forces, found in states where the government is divid ...

Jean-Pierre Chevenement. He was also adviser to French

Foreign Minister In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

Claude Cheysson. From 1991 to 1994, de Brichambaut was the head of French Delegation at the

Conference on Security and Co-operation in Europe The Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) was a key element of the détente process during the Cold War. Although it did not have the force of a treaty, it recognized the boundaries of postwar Europe and established a mechanism ...

(later (OSCE) in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

. He was appointed Conseiller d'Etat in 1992. From 1994 to 1998, de Brichambaut headed the French Foreign Ministry's Legal Division. In that capacity, he led the French delegation to the Rome Conference and signed the

Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the R ...

on behalf of his country. Before being appointed as OSCE Secretary General he was Director for Strategic Affairs at the Ministry of the Armed Forces. He served as Secretary General of the OSCE in Vienna from 2005 to 2011.

Judge at the International Criminal Court

On 10 December 2014 de Brichambaut was elected a judge to the

(ICC) in The Hague. In his capacity as presiding judge of Trial Chamber VII in 2016, he convicted former vice-president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo Jean-Pierre Bemba and four members of his legal team of interfering with witnesses; the verdicts marked the first time the court found suspects guilty of attempting to " pervert the course of justice", a concept from British law parallel to

obstruction of justice In United States jurisdictions, obstruction of justice refers to a number of offenses that involve unduly influencing, impeding, or otherwise interfering with the justice system, especially the legal and procedural tasks of prosecutors, investiga ...

American law The law of the United States comprises many levels of codified and uncodified forms of law, of which the supreme law is the nation's Constitution, which prescribes the foundation of the federal government of the United States, as well as v ...

. As presiding judge of Trial Chamber II, he issued a landmark ruling in 2017 by finding former Congolese militia leader Germain Katanga liable for $1 million in

damages At common law, damages are a remedy in the form of a monetary award to be paid to a claimant as compensation for loss or injury. To warrant the award, the claimant must show that a breach of duty has caused foreseeable loss. To be recognized at ...

to his victims; this was the first time the court awarded damages to individual victims. Shortly after, he also found Thomas Lubanga liable for damages of $10 million to 425 former child soldiers. In a high-profile decision on

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...

’s failure to arrest and surrender

President President most commonly refers to: *President (corporate title) * President (education), a leader of a college or university *President (government title) President may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Film and television *'' Præsident ...

Omar Al-Bashir Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir (born 1 January 1944) is a Sudanese former military officer and politician who served as Head of state of Sudan, Sudan's head of state under various titles from 1989 until 2019, when he was deposed in 2019 Sudanese c ...

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

to the Court while he was on its territory, de Brichambaut issued a separate opinion in 2017, deciding that as signatories to the Genocide Convention both countries were obligated to arrest Bashir. In March 2018, the ICC judges elected de Brichambaut as Second Vice-President for a three-year term.New ICC Presidency elected for 2018-2021

(ICC), press release of 11 March 2018.

References

External links

International Criminal Court

Secretary General Official site

OSCE Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Perrin de Brichambaut, Marc 1948 births Living people 21st-century French politicians École nationale d'administration alumni Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe French officials of the United Nations 21st-century French judges International Criminal Court judges French judges of international courts and tribunals OSCE Secretaries General