International Criminal Court (ICC) member states have elected British barrister Karim Khan as the next prosecutor of the war crimes tribunal.

Irish lawyer Fergal Gaynor missed out after garnering the second highest number of ballots.

Khan means he will hold a key position as head of the Office of the Prosecutor, which is responsible for investigating and prosecuting individuals for alleged genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in circumstances where states are unwilling or unable to hold the perpetrators accountable.

Vote

The vote took place on Friday (12 February) in New York, at the second resumed session of the 19th assembly of the 123 states which are party to the ICC’s Rome Statute.

The election was held after members failed to reach a consensus on who should succeed the current Prosecutor, Fatou Bensouda, whose term ends in June 2021.

Fergal Gaynor has extensive experience in the area including nine years prosecuting the Bosnian Serb leadership, while he also led a team investigating crimes in detention by Syria’s leadership.

He is the reserve international co-prosecutor at the Extraordinary Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia, where he and others prosecuted the Khmer Rouge leadership.