Cherie Booth QC: The need for female appointees to the International Criminal Court

From a speech given by the co-founder of Matrix Chambers, at the Royal Institute of British Architects

The prospects for an effective, legitimate and credible International Criminal Court depend, to a great extent, on the composition of its bench. That means, among other points, that there be representation of the principal legal systems, appropriate geographical representation, and an appropriate gender balance.

The international judiciary is overwhelmingly male, suggesting that the selection process operates within unacceptable limits. This is partly because women are under-represented in most national legal systems, as well as at the international level. However, it is not credible to suggest that under-representation is due to a dearth of suitably qualified candidates.

The under-representation of women threatens to undermine the authority of the institution from day one. As the court grows and becomes involved in high-profile cases, it will be crucial that international criminal justice be seen to be fair and representative of international society as a whole.

The need for female appointees is reinforced by the attention given by the International Criminal Court Statute to women's issues, as compared with the very limited concern women's issues have received in international criminal law in the past.

Rape and other acts of sexual violence have long been utilised as instruments of warfare, not only as an attack on the individual but also as a means to "humiliate, shame, degrade and terrify the entire... group". As events in Rwanda and the former Yugoslavia so horribly remind us, sexual aggression against women often serves as a grotesque public display of domination, in which the rape of the woman's body symbolically represents the rape of the community itself.

The victims have been let down when it has come to the prevention and prosecution of these offences, largely because sexual violence has been regarded as an accepted concomitant of war, even if it was not explicitly condoned.

I therefore welcome the Rome statute's express requirement that there be a fair representation between the sexes on the ICC's bench, and express the hope that all states will take that requirement seriously when they nominate and vote for candidates.