Africa-Press – Liberia. Cllr. Johnson’s acceptance was contained in a letter dated April 18, 2024, after nearly three years of waiting for response.
Cllr. Arthur T. Johnson will now continue his legal practices before the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands, following the acceptance of his application to practice before the court as its Defense Counsel.
Johnson’s acceptance was contained in a letter dated April 18, 2024, after nearly three years of waiting for response.
The April 18 communication to Cllr. Johnson was signed by Dominic Kennedy, Head of Office, ADC-ICT. The International lawyer’s body’s letter was also followed by a Certificate of Good Standing to Cllr. Johnson, which reads, “Cllr. Arthur T. Johnson is admitted as Full Member in Good Standing of the ADC-ICT, pursuant to ADC-ICT Constitution, Article13.2′′.
It continues, “His membership has not been subject to any disciplinary proceedings and has no outstanding financial obligations to the Association.”
The certificate, according to Kennedy, is valid until 31 December 2024. The Association of Defense Counsel is an independent professional body established under the laws of The Netherlands. Until 2016, the members of the Association practiced before the International Criminal Tribunal for Former Yugoslavia (ADC-ICTY).
The certificate gives Cllr. Johnson has the opportunity to practice before the ICC for a year, which ends by December 3. Johnson is an alumnus of the James E. Beasley School of Law at the Temple University of Philadelphia, United States of America.
According to the ICC website, lawyers included in the list of counsels may practice before the court as defense counsel, legal representatives for victims, duty counsel or ad hoc counsel.
The ICC sets the criteria to qualify as counsel following Rule 22 of the Rules of Procedure and Evidence and Regulation 67of the Regulation of the Court, which includes “established competence in international or criminal law and procedure” and at least 10 years of relevant experience in criminal proceedings, among other requirements.
Cllr. Johnson holds an LLM from the James E. Beasley School of Law that qualified him to practice before judges of the ICC. He is the second Liberian lawyer qualified to practice before the ICC, after Cllr. Sayma Syrenius Cephus, who is listed on the database of the ICC as defense counsel, qualified to practice before the ICC.
Cllr Johnson used the occasion to call on the ICC to give qualified Liberian the opportunity to practice before the ICC.
He also praised the ICC for selecting him among several lawyers around the world to practice before the court.
Cllr. Johnson, a criminal lawyer from the Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia, devoted 25 years of his professional practice in the criminal justice system, criminal law and international and diplomatic studies with 15 of those years mainly in the practice of criminal law.
Currently, he is an Assistant Professor of Law at Louis Arthur Grimes School of Law, University of Liberia, where he teaches Criminal Law and Criminal Procedure Law. He is also the Dean and Professor at Wilfred E. Clarke College of Law Enforcement and Criminal Justice Administration, AME Zion University.
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