Sandrine DE SENA was a full-time Case Managerin Mr. Bosco Ntaganda's Defence Team at the ICC from August 2016 to March 2019 after working as a pro bonolegal assistant from January to July 2016. Currently a PhD candidate in international criminal law at the University Panthéon-Assas under the co-directorship of Fannie Lafontaine and Julian Fernandez, Sandrine DE SENA is writing her thesis on "the practice of defence rights before the International Criminal Court". 

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Dr. Dov Jacobs is currently a senior legal assistant on the Defense team of Laurent Gbagbo at the International Criminal Court. He has been an active member of the ICCBA since its creation (initially on the Training Committee and this year on the Legal Advisory Committee), with the belief that the Defense needs strong institutional presence at the ICC, in order for their voice to be heard and their needs to be addressed. Dov Jacobs has 15 years of experience in international law, international criminal and human rights, both as an academic and a practitioner. Having obtained an LLB from King’s College in London, master degrees from Sciences Po, Paris I and Paris II and his PhD at the European University institute, he joined Leiden University as an Assistant Professor in 2011. He has been teaching ICL to generations of university students, as well as done training for professionals for many years (in particular in the context of the ICCBA). His publications confirm his expertise in ICL and the ICC. These publications have touched upon fundamental procedural issues, such as admissibility, the rights of the Defense, the scope and definition of the charges, immunities or provisional release and he regularly comments on ICL issues on his blog, Spreading the Jam. Dov Jacobs has concrete daily experience of all these issues on the Gbagbo case (both inside and outside the courtroom), and therefore has detailed knowledge of the daily procedure before the ICC and the challenges faced by practitioners, more particularly those who are part of Defense teams. This comprehensive expertise, both academic and practical, is the basis for his continued dedication to actively represent the interests of the Defense within the Training Committee and the Counsel Support Staff Committee for the coming year.  Dov Jacobs is committed to bring this experience to the table to deal with the difficulties faced by Defence teams, to everyone’s benefit, including the ICC, because without a strong Defense, recognised not only in words, but in the daily reality of the Court, as a pillar of the international criminal law system, there can be no fair trial, and therefore no justice.

Sarah Marinier Doucet has been working on the Al Hassan Defence team at the ICC since June 2018. Sarah started working in ICL with an internship at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon before completing her Master of Laws at McGill University. After a few years working in international law within the Canadian government, Sarah returned to The Hague to join the Al Hassan Defence team.