BY Bolanle Olabimtan
Ishaq Bello, a Nigerian judge, is eminently qualified to be among the International Criminal Court (ICC) justices, according to Zainab Duke, a lawyer.
President Muhammadu Buhari had nominated Bello, president of the federal capital territory (FCT), to the ICC on June 20.
Member states of the ICC are expected to nominate their candidates out of which only six judges will be elected to fill one-third of the court’s 18 judicial seats.
The elections which are scheduled for the 19th session of the assembly of states parties will be held at the United Nations, New York, from December seventh to December 17, 2020.
However, in a report of the advisory committee on the nomination of judges, the ICC said Bello lacked knowledge of the workings of the court.
In a statement, Duke asked those criticising Bello if they bothered to read his master’s degree thesis.
“Most learned eyebrows were raised when we read the unwarranted attacks and innuendos in some newspapers targeted at one of Nigeria’s finest legal luminaries, His Lordship Justice Ishaq Usman Bello,” the statement read.
“The allegations against the learned judge include his “very limited knowledge of the Rome Statute, practices and procedures of the court”.
“The Rome Statute established four core crimes: genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, with no statute of limitations.
“The main objective of the ICC is that of participating in a global fight to end impunity, and to hold perpetrators accountable for their crimes thereby preventing the re-occurrence of some of the world’s most heinous crimes.
“Pray, what is so befuddling about the aforementioned core crimes that a law student would fail to comprehend let alone a learned jurist of the calibre of Justice Bello? Interestingly, the learned jurist’s Masters degree thesis was on the topic of “Individual Criminal Responsibility under the Rome Statute.
“How then could the interviewers be said to have noted that “the candidate appeared to have very limited knowledge” of the Rome Statute?”
The statement said “based on both his professional experience as well as his answers during the virtual interview, the committee which screened the nominees concluded that the candidate is only formally qualified for appointment as judge of the International Criminal Court”.
“Formally qualified! This seems to be the redeeming feature. Otherwise learned minds would have been agitating over questions like,” the statement read.
“What virtual interview? Who were the interviewers? What are the credentials of the interviewers? Have one of the interviewers ever been involved in any sort of racism including institutional racism?
“These questions are germane as Nigeria’s nominee, the President of the African Development Bank was ridiculed and scandalised to such an extent that the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) was forced to apologise to the Nation. Fortunately, he is back on the saddle.
“For the records, the eminent jurist has supervised the judicial affairs of the Federal Capital Territory most fairly and equitably to the admiration of all and chagrin of criminals.
“Justice Ishaq Bello transcends his peers nationally as his wings of justice, laced with compassion, have spread internationally.
For instance, the learned Chief Judge’s achievements include the equitable administration of justice for all nationals residing in the Federal Capital Territory, computerisation of the courts and most notably the creation of the enforcement procedure rules for the Child Right Act.”
“It is worthy of note that since the inauguration of the committee, about 4000 inmates have been released and rehabilitated. To achieve this feat the learned judge and his team often navigated through the most difficult and dangerous terrains to reach their destinations. He knows the nation well. Seeing that the ICC’s jurisdiction includes crimes committed in the territory of a nation state it would not be rocket science to state that Justice Bello is the man for the job.”
A life bencher, fellow of the Nigeria’s Institute of Advanced Legal Studies, Bello holds a PhD from the Caribbean University amongst other honours and recognitions.
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