Justice Hans-Peter Kaul, the German judge who wrote a dissenting opinion on Kenya’s cases in the pretrial phase at The Hague, has died.
The judge died on Monday after a period of serious illness.
He resigned from the International Criminal Court for health reasons. His resignation took effect on July 1, 2014.
His death was announced by the court through a statement to the media.
“Judge Kaul’s death is an enormous loss for the ICC. He served as a role model, dedicating his career to reshaping international justice. Judge Kaul was a driving force in the creation of the Rome Statute, in the establishment of the ICC, and in many of the decisions rendered in the situations and cases before the Court in its history thus far. We will long remember him with respect and admiration on a personal and professional level, for his relentless commitment and extensive contributions to international justice”, said ICC President Judge Sang-Hyun Song.
Judge Kaul had maintained that crimes committed during the 2007-2008 post-election violence belonged to the Kenyan justice system and not the ICC.
During the January 2012 confirmation of charges, he said the ICC should decline jurisdiction in the cases against then Deputy Prime Minister Uhuru Kenyatta (now the President), Mr Francis Muthaura, then Eldoret North MP William Ruto (now Deputy President) and journalist Joshua arap Sang.
In his view, the crimes did not fall within the ambit of the court because the prosecutor had not proven that they were committed “in furtherance of an organisational policy.”
Judge Peter-Kaul was in the pre-trial Bench with Justices Ekaterina Trendafilova and Cuno Tarfusser.
