Professional Standards Advisory Committee
The Professional Standards Advisory Committee provides advice and guidance to members on the Code of Conduct for Counsel and can offer advisory opinions when requested.
An introductory video by the Chair of the Professional Standards Advisory Committee is available here.
Dr. Antonios Abou Kasm
Chair
Attorney at Law (Beirut Bar) and Professor of International law (Lebanese University and the Lebanese Army Forces’ Colleges). Admitted to practice before international criminal jurisdictions since 2011, and assigned as Lead Defense Counsel at the STL. He is one of the authors of the Joint Code of Ethics for Counsel pleading before international criminal courts (Nuremberg Code) and of legal books and articles. He holds an LL.D (Grenoble University) in addition to academic diplomas and professional certificates (United Nations/UN Fellow, ICRC, The Hague Academy of International Law, Leiden University, Penn State Dickinson Law, ICC, STL).
Charles Adeogun-Phillips
Charles Ayodeji Adeogun-Phillips is the founding partner of Charles Anthony LLP. Between 1998 and 2010, he successfully led teams of international prosecutors in 12 precedent setting genocide trials before the United Nations International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, making him arguably the most experienced and successful genocide prosecutor in history. In 2013, Charles successfully represented Christopher Mtikila, the outspoken Tanzanian politician, in his precedent setting case against the Tanzanian Government, before the African Court on Human and People’s Rights, resulting in amendments to Tanzania’s electoral laws to allow for independent candidacy for election to public office. He also advises African governments on ICC related transitional justice issues. In November 2016, Charles led the unprecedented corruption trial of a Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria, Sylvester Ngwuta JSC, from which he later resigned due to political interference. Born in London England, on March 6, 1966, Charles was educated at Repton and read law at Warwick and London universities, following which he was admitted as a Solicitor of the Superior Courts in England and Wales in 1996 and as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in 1992. He is cited in Creswell’s “Who’s Who in Public International Law” and in the International Year Book and Statesmen’s Who’s Who. With other leading international criminal law practitioners and/or academics around the world, Charles co-authored the book; International Criminal Investigations: Law and Practice, published by Eleven International in 2017.
Venkateswari Alagendra
Venkateswari Alagendra is a Malaysian lawyer with 23 years experience as a criminal and general litigator. Before the ICC, she was Counsel in the Defence team that represented H.E. William S. Ruto and Ambassador Francis Muthaura in the Kenya cases. She was Legal Consultant Adviser to the Defence Team representing Al Jadeed Television and Karma Khayat before the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL) at the Alleal phase. She was also a Legal Consultant/Adviser to the Defence Team of Fatmir Limaj before the Eulex Court in Kosovo for charges relating to war crimes and corruption cases. She has also previously served as a member of the Criminal Practice Committee of the Malaysian Bar Committee.
James Hodes
Jim Hodes is a Criminal Defense Attorney based in Atlanta, Georgia and Miami, Florida. He began his legal career as a State Public Defender in Miami in 1990 and was involved in over 100 Trials ranging from Murder and Rape, to Kidnapping and Drug Trafficking; He became a Senior Trial Attorney responsible for a Major Crimes caseload which primarily consisted of murder cases or high-profile media cases in Atlanta. Jim was also a Federal Public Defender in Florida and was a member of the defense team in one of the first federal trials of terrorists in the United States in which his client was ultimately absolved of any criminal responsibility. Jim has also served as a War Crimes Prosecutor at the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) where he served as the senior trial attorney in the prosecution of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC); Subsequent to his work in Sierra Leone Jim spent a year in Cairo, Egypt as a special advisor to the Egyptian government attempting to establish a formal, national criminal defense office. Additionally Jim has served as a trial rapporteur, monitor, and training attorney on behalf of the International Bar Association and the American Bar Association in Zimbabwe, Malawi, the United Arab Emirates, Mongolia and Kosovo. Jim worked in the Atlanta office of the Johnnie Cochran Firm where he was involved in both criminal and civil trials and the development of the Firm’s Latino outreach. During this time the Cochran firm entered into agreements with the Guatemalan and Mexican governments to provide legal support to their foreign nationals throughout the United States. Jim’s trial expertise has led to civil judgements in excess of
$25,000,000.00 for his clients and acquittals or reduced charges in numerous murder and drug cases over the past several years.
Dieudonné Takam
Lawyer since the year 2000, Barrister Dieudonné TAKAM is the founder and principal partner of the law firm TAKAM & Associates based in Yaoundé. Enrolled in both the Cameroon Bar and the International Criminal Court, Dieudonné TAKAM has a strong experience in international criminal law. A staunch defender of human rights, Barrister TAKAM was one of the major actors in the PACDET II project (Program for the improvement of conditions of detention). He has successfully defended many people in both national and international jurisdictions. He is a permanent consultant for several radio and television stations. He is regularly approached in several countries to share his expertise in public lectures. He obtained a certificate at the International Institute of Human Rights in Strasbourg. He is a member of the International Criminal Court Bar Association, the African Bar Association, the Pan-African Lawyers Union and the International Union of Lawyers. He is also a member of lawyers without Borders France, and local Expert of the World Bank Group for the Project Women, Enterprise and law. At the International Criminal Court, he officiated as a permanent counsel. At the ICCBA, his distinguished colleagues who you are have trusted him and have elected him as a member of the Professional Standards Advisory Committee as soon as the first office was established.