Association du Barreau près la Cour Pénale Internationale

Despoina Eleftheriou is a Greek lawyer, admitted to the Thessaloniki Bar. She studied law at the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki Faculty of Law, followed by an LLM in International Studies from which she graduated with Honours. In November 2019 she graduated cum laude from the University of Amsterdam with an LLM in International Criminal Law (Joint program with Columbia University in the City of New York). In February 2020, she joined the Defence team for Mr Charles Blé Goudé before the International Criminal Court as a Case Manager. In September 2020, she joined the Defence team for Mr Patrice-Édouard Ngaïssona, and in April 2022 she became a Case Manager. Prior to her joining the Defence at the International Criminal Court, she worked as a trainee lawyer at L. Trampa and Associates, based in Thessaloniki (Greece), dealing mostly with civil, criminal and administrative law cases. She has also worked as a legal trainee at the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in the Department for International Relations in Thessaloniki.

Chloé Blanzat is a French jurist who currently works as a legal assistant for the Office of Public Counsel for the Defence at the ICC. She previously worked at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon as a member of Mr. Oneissi's defence team, and studied public international law with a specialization in human rights in both France and the United States.

Diana Constantinide is a British barrister and Cypriot lawyer with over 7 years of legal experience.  She is practicing international criminal and human rights law before international and domestic courts. At the ICC, she is assistant to Counsel to the legal representative of victims in the case of Abd- Al- Rahman. The past two years she has been working on the Afghanistan situation in the realm of victim representation.  She also worked on the Myanmar situation, before the ICC approved full investigation over Myanmar’s alleged crimes against the Rohingya and advised NGOs on complex international matters involving genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and sexual violence. She also teaches international criminal and human rights law. Diana completed ICC’s virtual training and she met with various sections of the court including the counsel section to understand the workplace conditions of persons assisting counsels. Through those steps and being an associate member of the ICCBA, Diana understands the importance in promoting a diverse and equal gender representation to the profession. 

Chiara Giudici has been working for the Defence team of Mr Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona before the International Criminal Court since April 2019. She currently holds the position of Case Manager. In November 2021, she qualified for admission to the Bergamo Bar in Italy. She holds a Masters Degree in Law, which she obtained cum laude at the University of Bologna (Italy) in 2017. In 2019, she also obtained an LLM in International and Transnational Criminal Law from the University of Amsterdam. She speaks Italian, English, French and Spanish. 

Iffat Rahman has a JD from the United States and is currently completing her LLM at Osgoode Law. She also possesses a diploma from Oxford University on human rights law.  She has work experience from the ICC, ICTY, ICTR and the Khmer Rouge Tribunal. She previously worked at the UNHCR in Malaysia and has been actively involved with human rights issues in Asia and Africa. 

Havneet Sethi (a.k.a. Nikki) is an international lawyer with over a decade of experience and expertise in public interest law, principally in international criminal law and human rights. She was admitted to the New York bar in 2012 and to the ICC List of Assistants to Counsel in 2016. She has extensive experience in all stages of litigation, including investigations, case development, and trial and appellate litigation, and is committed to legal advocacy to defend human rights, including through representation of disenfranchised persons and groups. She is presently a Legal Assistant in the Defence team of Mr Al Hassan at the International Criminal Court, where she was previously also Case Manager and Legal Assistant on the defence team for Mr Jean-Jacques Mangenda in the Bemba et al. case from 2015 to 2018 and pro bono legal assistant to Mr Aimé Kilolo Musamba in the same case from 2014 to 2015. From 2019 to 2021, Havneet worked at the UN-IRMCT as Legal Assistant on the Defence team of Mr Jean de Dieu Ndagijimana in the Nzabonimpa et al. case. She has also worked at the ICTY and has assisted in the representation of clients in front of the United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, the East African Court of Justice, and the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. She holds a J.D. (with honours) from the United States as well as an LL.M. from the Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II) and an LL.M. in Advanced Studies in Public International Law from the University of Leiden, from which programs she graduated with honours and summa cum laude, respectively. Though she has not previously held an executive position within the ICCBA, she is eager to serve and, if elected, would bring to the position her considerable enthusiasm and experience.

Barbara Szmatula is a French jurist working at the International Criminal Court (ICC). She has been working as a Case Manager in the Defence team for Mr Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona before the ICC since January 2020. Barbara studied international law at Panthéon-Assas Paris II and University of Warsaw for a semester, as well as history of art at Université Sorbonne Paris-IV. After obtaining her Masters of International Public Law in Paris, she joined the Defence team of Mr Charles Blé-Goudé before the ICC and worked on various projects related to international law and international politics. She was also an intern for jus Mundi, a legal-tech company dedicated to international law. Barbara speaks French, English, Polish and is currently learning Dutch.