Beti Hohler sworn in as International Criminal Court judge
The Hague, 8 March - Six new judges were sworn in at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague on Friday for a nine-year term, including 42-year-old Beti Hohler, who became the youngest judge in the history of the ICC and the first Slovenian to take up this post.
Bled
Beti Hohler sworn in at the International Criminal Court (ICC) as the first Slovenian to be elected to this post.
Photo: Nebojša Tejić/STA
File photo
"I solemnly undertake that I will perform my duties and exercise my powers as a judge of the International Criminal Court honourably, faithfully, impartially and conscientiously, and that I will respect the confidentiality of investigations and prosecutions and the secrecy of deliberations," Hohler said at the ceremony alongside five other new judges from South Korea, Mongolia, Romania, Tunisia and France.
She was elected by parties to the Rome Statute in the eighth round of voting in New York on 7 December 2023, getting 82 out of the possible 123 votes.
An expert in international criminal law, Hohler served as a trial lawyer for the ICC's Office of the Prosecutor before her election. She has also served as a member of the ICC Appeals Board.
She is one of the authors of the leading English-language commentary on the Rome Statute. She regularly trains judges and lawyers in international criminal law and advocacy.
The ICC has 18 judges, nine men and nine women, who are elected for nine-year terms. Each country can only have one judge.
Hohler was nominated for the post by President Borut Pahor in 2022 and later endorsed by the National Assembly and the government.
This was third major UN election for Slovenia in a year, after the country was elected to the UN Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC) in 2022 and to the UN Security Council last year.