The term of the first ICC Prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, is due to expire in June 2012. His successor is to be elected in December this ye ar . The Assembly of States P ar ties (ASP) —the Court’s governing body — has established a Se ar ch Committee for the Prosecutor of the ICC composed of States P ar ties’ representatives, mandated to facilitate the nomination and election by consensus of the next Prosecutor.

The President of the Assembly along with the Coordinator of the Se ar ch Committee have called for governments, NGOs, professional associations and individuals to contact the Se ar ch Committee with names of individuals they believe ar e among the most qualified individuals in the world to be the Prosecutor of the ICC.

The Coordinator of the Se ar ch Committee, H.E. Ambassador Zeid Ra’ad Zeid Al-Hussein and the President of the Assembly, H.E. Ambassador Christian Wenaweser recently reported on the progress and activity of the Se ar ch Committee for the position of ICC Prosecutor. Details released by the Committee indicate that it is publicly calling for informal “expressions of interest” within the next six weeks in relation to any highly-qualified candidates noting that women and those from Asia, Latin America and Eastern Europe ar e currently underrepresented in its list of names.

The Se ar ch Committee has indicated that thus f ar it has considered 29 persons who have expressed an interest in being considered for the post of Prosecutor, three of whom have however been dropped from the list because, according to the Committee, did not meet the requirements of the Rome Statute or have asked to have their candidacy removed.

Of the 26 still under consideration by the Committee, 21 ar e men and five ar e female.  Based on the United Nations’ geographic classification, 15 ar e from Western Europe and other States group; eight ar e from the African group; one is from the Eastern European group; and two from the Group of Latin American and C ar ibbean states. There ar e no candidates under consideration from the Asian group so f ar .

“The figures released on the se ar ch for the next Prosecutor reveal a regional and gender disp ar ity”, said William Pace , Convenor of the Coalition. “We want the se ar ch to occur in every legal system and region of the world. Some of the most outstanding international prosecutors and judges were prior to taking office little-known national civil servants who had not even thought about international service,” Pace stated.

“The Coalition therefore encourages States, professional organizations, NGOs and any interested persons to submit to the Se ar ch Committee the names of those who they believe to be the most qualified and suitable for the role of Prosecutor,” he added. “At the same time the Coalition encourages the ASP President and Se ar ch Committee coordinator to continue providing reports of the progress made.”

Interested candidates or those wishing to recommend the names of qualified individuals ar e requested to contact the Se ar ch Committee through the Secret ar iat of the Assembly of States P ar ties before 9 September 2011