The Registrar
The Court appoints its Registrar from among candidates proposed by Members of the Court. He is elected for a term of seven years and may be re-elected. The Court also appoints a Deputy-Registrar to assist him, under the same conditions and in the same way as the Registrar.
The general functions of the Registrar are defined by the Rules of Court (Art. 26) and the Instructions for the Registry (Art. I). He is the regular channel of communications to and from the Court and in particular effects all communications, notifications and transmissions of documents required by the Statute or by the Rules; he keeps a General List of all cases, entered and numbered in the order in which they are received in the Registry; he attends, in person or through his deputy, meetings of the Court, and of the Chambers, and is responsible for the preparation of minutes of such meetings; he makes arrangements for such provision or verification of translations and interpretation in the Court’s official languages (English and French) as the Court may require; he signs all judgments, advisory opinions and orders of the Court as well as the minutes; he is responsible for the administration of the Registry, including the accounts and financial administration; he assists in maintaining the Court’s external relations, both with international organizations and States and in the field of information and publications; finally, he has custody of the seals and stamps of the Court, of the archives of the Court and of such other archives as may be entrusted to the Court (including the archives of the Nuremberg Tribunal).
The Deputy-Registrar assists the Registrar and acts as Registrar in the latter’s absence. He has recently been entrusted with wider administrative responsibilities, including direct supervision of the Archives, IT and General Assistance Divisions.
The present Registrar is Mr. Philippe Couvreur, of Belgian nationality, who was elected on 10 February 2000 for a term of seven years and who was re-elected on 8 February 2007 for a new term of seven years. The present Deputy-Registrar is Ms. Thérèse de Saint Phalle, of American and French nationality, who was elected on 9 October 2007 for a term of seven years as from 19 February 2008 .
Former Registrars are listed below :
Name |
Country |
Term |
Edvard Hambro |
Norway |
1946-1953 |
Julio López-Oliván |
Spain |
1953-1960 |
Jean Garnier-Coignet |
France |
1960-1966 |
Stanislas Aquarone |
Australia |
1966-1980 |
Santiago Torres Bernárdez |
Spain |
1980-1986 |
Eduardo Valencia-Ospina |
Colombia |
1987-2000 |
Former Deputy-Registrars are listed below :
Name |
Country |
Term |
Jean Garnier-Coignet |
France |
1946-1960 |
Stanislas Aquarone |
Australia |
1960-1966 |
William Tait |
United Kingdom |
1966-1976 |
Alain Pillepich |
France |
1977-1984 |
Eduardo Valencia-Ospina |
Colombia |
1984-1987 |
Bernard Noble |
United Kingdom |
1987-1994 |
Jean-Jacques Arnaldez |
France |
1994-2008 |