Dr Paul Behrens gives amicus curiae presentations before the International Criminal Court

On 14 and 16 February, Dr Paul Behrens of the Edinburgh Law School gave presentations at the International Criminal Court as amicus curiae in the Appeal hearing of the Ongwen Case.

Dominic Ongwen was a brigade commander in the 'Lord's Resistance Army' – a militant rebel group in Uganda led by Joseph Kony. Before the ICC, Ongwen stood accused of war crimes and crimes against humanity. In 2021, he was found guilty on more than 60 counts, including murder, torture, rape, sexual slavery, forced marriage and the conscription of child soldiers. In May 2021, he was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment.

When Ongwen appealed the judgment, the Appeals Chamber declared an interest in particular legal points on which they wanted to hear from experts in criminal law as amici curiae. Dr Behrens was admitted as an amicus in November 2021, submitted his brief in December and was then invited to participate in the Appeals hearings. On 14 February, he addressed the Chamber on burden and standard of proof of defences, duress and mental disease or defect; on 16 February, on cumulative convictions. Following the presentation, the trial participants replied to the points made by the amici and the experts then answered specific questions from the bench.

Dr Behrens said: 'It is a great honour to be invited to work as an amicus curiae before the Appeals Chamber of the ICC. The case is of immense importance to a large number of people – the Legal Representative of Victims represents about 2,600 victims – but it also has consequences for the development of the entire field of international criminal law. The legal matters are complex, and I hope that our submissions on them will be of help to the Appeals Chamber. My particular thanks go to Carla Fischer, George Revel, Jannicke Martin, Gabriel Chávez and Mateusz Pelka who provided invaluable research assistance for my submissions before the Court.'