International Judicial Monitor
Published by the International Judicial Academy, Washington, D.C., with assistance from the
American Society of International Law

Summer 2009 Issue
 

Justice In Profile

Sang-Hyun Song

Sang-Hyun SongBy: Christine E. White, Copy Editor and Reporter, International Judicial Monitor

The International Criminal Court (ICC) has the attention of the international law community since the Rome Statute establishing the Court was adopted eleven years ago. Today, the ICC is in the middle of its first trial, that of Thomas Lubanga Dyilo from the Democratic Republic of the Congo who is accused of war crimes relating the conscription of child soldiers, while awaiting the commencement of its second trial in September 2009 in the case against Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui. The individual leading the ICC during this pivotal time is Judge Sang-Hyun Song of the Republic of Korea.

Judge Song is the second President of the International Criminal Court, succeeding Judge Phillipe Kirsch of Canada. An absolute majority of the Court’s judges, in accordance with Article 38 of the Rome Statue, elected Judge Song to the Presidency on March 11, 2009. He will serve a three-year term, with eligibility for reelection to a second three-year term in 2012. As head of the Presidency, Judge Song is responsible for overseeing the proper administration of the Court. Working with Judge Song in the Presidency are First Vice-President Fatoumata Dembele Diarra of Mali and Second Vice-President Hans-Peter Kaul of Germany.

Judge Song is one of sixteen full-time members of the ICC. (Article 36 (1) of the Rome Statute calls for eighteen judges. As a result, the Assembly of States Parties will hold elections in November, 2009 to fill the two vacancies.) On March 11, 2003, during the first round of elections for judges to the ICC, the Assembly of States Parties elected Judge Song to serve a three-year term. He was selected from the Asian Group of States, which includes Afghanistan, Cambodia, Cook Islands, Cyprus, Fiji, Japan, Jordan, Marshall Islands, Mongolia, Nauru, Republic of Korea, Samoa, Tajikistan, and Timor-Leste. His was a List A candidacy, meaning that he had “established competence in criminal law and procedure, and the necessary relevant experience, whether as judge, prosecutor, advocate or in other similar capacity, in criminal proceedings” (Article 36 (3)(b)(i)). In 2006, Judge Song was reelected to a nine-year term. According to the rules laid out in the Rome Statute, Judge Song will not be eligible for reelection when his term expires in 2015.

A lawyer by training, Judge Song brings a great deal of legal experience to the ICC. He began his legal career with the Korean Army, acting as both a judge advocate prosecuting cases and a military judge. Before his election to the ICC, he spent over twenty years advising the Korean Supreme Court, Ministry of Justice, and Supreme Prosecution Office on issues including criminal procedure, prison reform, and criminal investigation. Judge Song was the Supreme Court’s longest serving advisor. During his time as a government advisor, he helped reform the Korean Code of Criminal Procedure and the Court Rules of Criminal Adjudication.

In addition, Judge Song has legal expertise in the area of human rights law. His 1976 article, “Reevaluation of the Legal Aid and its Modern Themes in Korean Perspective,” has influenced many Korean legal aid programs. Judge Song is the Vice-President of UNICEF/Korea and a member of the Lawyers’ Committee of Amnesty International/Korea. He has contributed to the development of UNICEF educational materials on the United Nations, human rights, and the Covenant on the Rights of the Child. He is a member of the Board of Directors for the Korean Family Legal Service Centre. Judge Song was a strong supporter of international law as an adviser to the Ministry of Justice where he encourage the Ministry to adopt the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, and the Rome Statue, among others. As a member of the Korean Prime Minister’s Commission on Youth Protection, he has investigated sexual exploitation of and sexual assault on minors and urged to have the names of sex offenders publicized on the Commission’s website.

Judge Song is a distinguished legal scholar and professor of procedural law and evidence. He graduated from Seoul National University Law School with an LL.B. in 1963. Following the national judicial service exam and two years of a required apprenticeship, he was admitted to the Korean bar in 1964. He continued his legal studies in the United States as a Fulbright Fellow at Tulane University Law School, ultimately earning a S.J.D. from Cornell Law School in 1970. Judge Song also studied law at the University of Cambridge in the United Kingdom where he obtained a Diploma in Comparative Legal Studies.

Following his studies, Judge Song returned to Korea as a professor of law at Seoul National University Law School where he taught from 1972 to 2007. He also provided legal education to the Korean national police cadets. During this time Judge Song served as a visiting professor at the law schools at the University of Melbourne, New York University, Columbia University, the University of Wellington in New Zealand, and the University of Florida. At the time of his election to the ICC in 2003, Judge Song was a visiting professor at Harvard Law School.

Judge Song has published extensively on a variety of legal issues. Among his publications are three books: Introduction to the Law and Legal System of Korea (1983); Korean Law in the Global Economy (1996); and The Korean Civil Procedure (2002). He is a recipient of Cornell University’s Distinguished Alumni Award and the Legal Culture Award from the Korean Federal Bar Association.

Shortly after his election to the ICC in 2003, Judge Song told Human Rights First that he hopes to see the ICC become “a viable and trustworthy international institution that contributes to world peace through law, protection of human rights and the realization of humanitarianism.” As the International Criminal Court enters this important era in its history, it could not hope for a better President and advocate than Judge Sang-Hyun Song.

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© 2009 – The International Judicial Academy with assistance from the American Society of International Law.

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