Professor Milena Sterio, with a group of experts convened under the auspices of the Public International Law and Policy Group, submitted observations as amici curiae to the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court in the Case of the Prosecutor v. Dominic Ongwen.

Professor Sterio’s observations focused on the allocation of the burden of proof and the appropriate standard of proof in relation to the applicability of the grounds excluding criminal responsibility enshrined in art. 31(1)(a) and (d) of the Rome Statute. Professor Sterio, with Dean Michael Scharf (CWRU School of Law), appeared in person at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, in February 2022, to present these observations during the Ongwen appellate hearing.

The International Criminal Court, in this appellate judgement, generally accepted Professor Sterio’s advice and cited Professor Sterio’s amici curiae observations six times in the judgment and three additional times in the annexes to the judgement.

The ICC’s decision is available here, at the link titled, “Appeals judgment on the verdict, 15 December 2022.”