We regret to announce that Judge Hans-Peter Kaul has resigned from the International Criminal Court (ICC) for health reasons. His resignation will take effect on 1 July 2014. Judge Kaul’s full term at the ICC would have ended on 11 March 2015.

The President of the ICC, Judge Sang-Hyun Song, expressed deep regret over Judge Kaul’s departure from the Court and the circumstances which necessitated his resignation. “I thank Judge Hans-Peter Kaul wholeheartedly for his dedicated service to the Court and his pioneering role in the ICC’s development, even before the Court was established”, President Song stated. “I worked closely with Judge Kaul, particularly when we were first sworn in together in 2003 and when he served with me in the Presidency as Second Vice-President from 2009 to 2012. I have enormous respect for his deeply humanist personality and his substantial contributions to international justice, which will continue to guide the Court in the future.”

A German national, Judge Kaul has served as an ICC Judge for 11 years. In the first elections of ICC judges in February 2003, he was elected by the States Parties to the Rome Statute for a three-year term and assumed his duty on 11 March 2003. He was re-elected in 2006 for a further term of nine years.

Judge Kaul was a member of the ICC’s Pre-Trial Division, serving as the Division’s President from 2004 to 2009, as well as from 8 April 2014 until his resignation. He contributed to important decisions in proceedings regarding situations in Uganda, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Darfur (Sudan), the Central African Republic, Kenya, Libya and Côte d’Ivoire and related cases.

Judge Kaul also served for several years on various committees related to the Permanent Premises: he was chairman of the Inter-Organ Committee on the Permanent Premises (2003-2008), the senior representative of the Court in the Jury of the International Architectural Design Competition, and contributed to the work of the Oversight Committee of States Parties, playing an important pioneering role in the process which eventually led to the planning and construction of the ICC’s future permanent home.

From 1996 to 2003, Hans-Peter Kaul served as chief negotiator and head of the German delegation during the process leading to the establishment of the International Criminal Court.

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

WASHINGTON, D.C., United States – The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee approved a new Global Magnitsky Bill (S. 1933) that strengthens and expands an earlier legislation targeting Russia.

In December 2012, the Magnitsky Act passed, allowing targeting of individuals in Russia who were related to the case of Sergei Magnitsky. Mr. Magnitsky was a Russian lawyer working for the Hermitage Fund who investigated into and testified against top police officials in Russia for embezzling $230 million in taxes. Mr. Magnitsky was later arrested and sent to prison without trial, and he died nearly a year into his time in prison due to poor health in questionable circumstances.

A few months after passing the Magnitsky Act, 18 names were released in connection with Mr. Magnitsky’s death. On May 20, 2014, the US Treasury Department sanctioned another 12 Russian individuals pursuant to the Act due to their involvement in the detention, abuse or death of Mr. Magnitsky.

On June 24, 2014, the U.S. Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted to globally expand the provisions of the Russia-centered Act. The new bill, the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act, would bar human rights violators from all around the world from entering into the United States. Further, it would prohibit these violators from using U.S. financial institutions. U.S. Senators Ben Cardin (Democrat-Maryland) and John McCain (Republican-Arizona) drafted the bill.

Now that the bill has passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee vote, it will go to the Senate floor to be voted on. Should it pass that vote, the House of Representatives will hold a vote on the bill. Finally, the bill would go to President Obama to sign before enactment.

This bill, if enacted, would be another weapon for the United States in the fight against human rights violations, but now expanded globally rather than just for the narrow issue concerning the Magnitsky death. This global expansion could also have a profound effect on Russia, as Russia already has 30 names on the list solely from the Magnitsky death. This increased financial pressure on Russia could prove to be an effective tool in negotiations between Russia and the United States or even Europe. Given the problems in Ukraine and disputes between Russia and the West, this bill would serve to further increase pressure on Russia to cooperate and negotiate with the West to come to peace along the eastern European border.

For more information, please see:

EU Reporter – Global Magnitsky human rights and anti-corruption bill approved by US Senate Foreign Relations Committee 1 July 2014

Radio Free Europe Radio Liberty – Global Version Of Magnitsky Act Adopted In Senate Committee 24 June 2014

Lexology – US sanctions 12 Russian individuals under Magnitsky Act 30 May 2014

The Washington Post – The man behind the Magnitsky Act explains why now is the time to go after the Russian elite’s assets 3 March 2014