It's IntLawGrrls' great pleasure to welcome Olivia Swaak-Goldman (left) as today's guest blogger.Olivia is the International Cooperation Advisor in the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court. In that position, she's responsible for the Office's external relations. (photo credit)
Prior to joining the ICC, Olivia was Senior Legal Counsel at the International Law Department of the Netherlands Ministry of Foreign Affairs, where she was responsible for international criminal law and international humanitarian law. She has also served as a Legal Assistant at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal and at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia. She was a Research Fellow at Leiden University in the Netherlands. She earned a degree in political science from Trinity College, Hartford, Connecticut, her law degree from Washington College of Law, American University, Washington, D.C., and her LL.M degree from the University of Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Along with former ICTY Judge Gabrielle Kirk McDonald, Olivia co-edited the 2-volume Substantive and Procedural Aspects of International Criminal Law (2000). She's published extensively, in journals and books, on areas of international criminal law.
A member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law, Olivia took part, during ASIL's recent midyear meeting, in a panel on international criminal accountability. (Prior IntLawGrrls posts)
In her guest post below, Olivia sets forth the Prosecutor's perspectives on the trial of Jean-Pierre Bemba Gombo, set to begin before Trial Chamber III (comprising Judges Sylvia Steiner (Brazil)), Joyce Aluoch (Kenya), and Kuniko Ozaki (Japan)) at 2:30 p.m. Hague time tomorrow. You can watch video streaming of proceedings here, and follow trial updates here.
Heartfelt welcome!
