The Gambia Bar Association (GBA) has endorsed the nomination of Abubacarr Tambadou as a judge of the International Court of Justice.
In a statement issued earlier this week, GBA stated it was “proud to fully support“ the nomination of its member and former justice minister and testified to his “unyielding commitment to the rule of law, profound legal acumen, and exceptional leadership qualities,” describing him as an outstanding candidate poised to enhance the ICJ’s credibility and success.
Since July 2020, Mr Tambadou has been serving as the Registrar of the Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT)
Prior to this, he served as the Attorney General and Minister of Justice of The Gambia from February 2017 to June 2020.
In 2019, his peers in the African Union, elected him as the Chair of the African Union Specialised Technical Committee on Justice and Legal Affairs. He was also elected in 2018 by the Council of Foreign Ministers of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) as Chair of the OIC Ad Hoc Ministerial Committee on Accountability for Human Rights Violations Against the Rohingya. In this regard, he successfully initiated and led OIC efforts and The Gambia’s case against Myanmar at the International Court of Justice under the 1948 Genocide Convention, and in January 2020 successfully obtained the unprecedented provisional measures order against Myanmar for the protection of the Rohingya. Tambadou was on the Time Magazine list of 100 Most Influential people of 2020, and was a Nobel Peace Prize Nominee in 2021.
Mr Tambadou has extensive executive, management and administrative experience. Before his appointment as Attorney General and Minister of Justice in February 2017, Mr Tambadou was the Special Assistant to the Prosecutor of the United Nations International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals between 2012 and 2017. As Special Assistant, Mr Tambadou supported successive Prosecutors of the Mechanism and represented the Office of the Prosecutor in the operationalisation of the two branches in Arusha and The Hague ensuring, in the process, close collaboration between the three organs of the Mechanism.
Mr Tambadou also has extensive litigation experience in international human rights law, international humanitarian law, and international criminal law. First, as Trial Attorney at the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) between 2003 and 2008, Mr Tambadou was involved in the prosecution of four senior military officers implicated in the 1994 Rwandan genocide including the former Chiefs of Staff of the Rwandan Army and Gendarmerie. As Appeals Counsel (OTP) between 2008 and 2012, Mr Tambadou handled several appeal cases that involved complex groundbreaking international law principles, including the appeal case of Colonel Theoneste Bagosora, the man many believed to be the mastermind of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide.
The 54-year-old Tambadou has an LLB Degree from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom, in 1997; and an LLM Degree in International Human Rights Law from the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London in 2002. He was called to the Bar at Lincoln’s Inn in the United Kingdom, and as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of The Gambia, in 1999.
