Peter Haynes – a British barrister has been selected as the defence lawyer for Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA) rebel leader, Joseph Kony, during the International Criminal Court (ICC) pre-trial proceedings at Hague.
The new development was announced on Monday following a selection process with several lawyers seeking to be hired as defence counsel for the wanted Ugandan rebel leader. The ICC said of the panel that Haynes emerged as the suitable candidate after a series of interviews and processes.
“The panel agreed that the suitable candidates to represent the interests of Mr Kony during in absentia confirmation proceedings would be the candidates with the highest scores, namely Mr Peter Haynes…based on the foregoing, the Registry recommends to appoint Peter Haynes as counsel of Mr Kony in the present proceedings,” reads the document issue on 14th june 2024.
The panel was composed of the Director of the Division of Judicial Services, the Head of the New York Liaison Office of the Court, the Chief of the Counsel Support Section and the President of the International Criminal Court Bar Association(ICCBA).
ICC issued an arrest warrant against Kony 19 years ago in 2005. On his working visit in Uganda last month, the ICC registrar, Osvaldo Zavala Giler last month said that the International Court has started the process leading to the trial of the elusive rebel leader Joseph Kony. ICC prosecutors are looking to charge him with 36 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity which includes murder, rape, using child soldiers, sexual slavery, forced marriage and forced pregnancy.
According to U.N. figures, about 100,000 people were killed in the conflict. In April this year, the trial Chamber instructed the ICC Registry to make its best efforts to inform Mr Kony that a confirmation of charges hearing in absentia will take place on 15 October 2024.
“It is not a trial since the case is still under pre-trial. It is a public preliminary hearing to or not confirm any of the charges brought by the prosecutor against Kony. He is presumed innocent until proven guilty. This can happen in the absence of Kony. However, if the case goes for trial, it can’t happen in absence of Kony,” the registrar said.
The ICC registrar however said Kony’s trial will not kick off in his absence. This means, the counsel will only represent Kony during the pre-trial.
About Peter Haynes:
Peter Haynes is one of the foremost practitioners in International Criminal and Humanitarian Law, having spent most of the last 17 years appearing before various tribunals in the Hague. He is one of the very few practitioners to have led cases before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (“ICTY”), where he appeared for the defence of General Vinko Pandurević in relation to the Srebrenica massacre, the International Criminal Court (“ICC”) and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (“STL”).
At the ICC, he appeared for Jean-Pierre Bemba, the Minister of Defence and Senator of the Democratic Republic of Congo, famously securing his acquittal of all charges on appeal. At the STL, he represented the victims of the terrorist bombing in Beirut which resulted in the assassination of Prime Minister, Rafik Hariri. He has appeared in cases involving charges of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and international terrorism. He has been responsible for the development of jurisprudence, practice and procedure in the representation of victims in ICHL. Between 2019 and 2021, he held the office of President of the International Criminal Court Bar Association, becoming the first and only person to be re-elected to the post.
Domestically, he has appeared for both the prosecution and the defence inter alia in cases of murder, serious fraud, sexual offences, human trafficking and complex conspiracies. Away from crime, Peter has acted as lead counsel in a class action against the British government concerning the torture of prisoners in Cyprus; taken proceedings against the ICC seeking $75 million in damages for the losses arising from the freezing of Bemba’s assets and represented the Tamil community in an appeal to the Proscribed Organisations Appeal Commission relating to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eeelam.
Peter also works as an independent consultant on international legal matters, advising governments, heads of state and NGO’s. He is senior advisory counsel to Legal Action Worldwide (“L.A.W.”) in relation to a number of humanitarian crises. He has been involved in outreach and rule of law projects in Iraq on behalf of both the FCDO and the US State Department, as well as, on behalf of the latter, Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorist Financing initiatives in the Democratic Republic of Congo.