“Efficiency Is Paramount in This Regard”: The Managerial Role of the ICC Presidency from Kirsch to Fernández

Abstract

Since the International Criminal Court commenced its work, much has been made of the institution-building role of successive ICC Prosecutors as central to the Court’s legal framework and as ambassadors for the “fight against impunity”. Much less has been said about the role of the ICC Presidency, as the Court’s smallest organ, and its successive Presidents. Yet the Presidency operates at the apex of the Court as an international organisation, manages relations with states, coordinates internal governance issues, and acts as the “public face” of the Court globally, not to mention its judicial functions. The ICC Presidency and its first three Presidents have been particularly influential in shaping the ICC into an institution prioritising the values of efficiency and effectiveness, with deeply political and distributive implications. This article traces those influences, from the Presidency of Philipp Kirsch, until the end of the third Presidency under the leadership of Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi in March 2018.