It is appropriate that the current president of the International Criminal Court, Judge Sang-Hyun Song, has both the practical experience of a judge and the intellectual ability of a first-rate scholar and jurist. Two noteworthy facts about Judge Song’s illustrious career are that he served as a military prosecutor and military judge in the Korean army immediately upon graduation from Seoul National University Law School in 1963, and that he served as a professor of law at that same university, beginning in 1972 and continuing to the present day. His military and academic services have gained him recognition as an expert in court management, criminal procedure and the law of evidence, talents that have been put to good use since he was elevated to the presidency of the International Criminal Court in 2009, after joining that court as one of its first judges in 2003.

Judge Song was born in Korea on December 21, 1941, just two weeks after the Japanese bombing of Pearl Harbor. He was called to the Korean Bar in 1964.  After his military service as a captain in the Korean army, he practiced law in New York City for two years before joining the faculty of Seoul National University Law School. He was also a lecturer in law at the Korean National Police College for 20 years, teaching comparative court procedure, evidence and prosecution. He became Dean of the Seoul National University Law School in 1996 and served in that capacity for two years.

In keeping with his expertise in court administration matters, Judge Song was an active leader in the reform of the Korean litigation system and criminal justice system. This reform involved the Korean Penal Code, the Code and Rules of Criminal Procedure, and the Korean prison system. He has served on the Presidential Commission on Judicial Reform since 2005.

Judge Song also has a recognized expertise in international humanitarian law and international human rights law. He co-founded the Legal Aid Center for Women in Korea, and served as vice-president of the UNICEF organization in his home country.

In addition to his LL.B. degree, Judge Song has a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) from Tulane University Law School, where he attended as a Fulbright Scholar; a Diploma in Comparative Legal Studies from Cambridge University, and an S.J.D. degree from Cornell Law School. He has been a Visiting Humboldt Scholar at the Humboldt University Law Faculty  in Berlin, has been a Visiting Scholar at Harvard Law School as an American Council of Learned Society Fellow, and has a Certificate from the Hague Academy of International Law.

His scholarly writings and presentations are extensive – four books, 16 articles in learned journals, and 19 major speeches at venues around the world.

He has been a visiting professor at nine universities in the United States, Australia and New Zealand, including the New York University Law School, Columbia Law School, and the University of Melbourne. He has been awarded the Legal Culture Award from the Korean Bar Association, the National Decoration of the Second Highest Order from the South Korean government, and a distinguished alumni medal from Cornell University.

The international law community is fortunate in having such a distinguished jurist to lead the International Criminal Court during a critical phase of its development.