Today, Wednesday March 10, Mexican Ambassador Socorro Flores Liera was sworn in as a judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, Netherlands, a position she will hold between 2021 and 2030.
The ICC is a court established by the 1998 Rome Statute, to which Mexico is a party and one of its main promoters. The Court prosecutes individuals for the most serious international crimes: war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and the crime of aggression.
Ambassador Flores Liera was elected in December 2020, by a qualified majority of the Assembly of States Parties to the ICC. Her election was the result of a rigorous process during which she was endorsed by the States and also by civil society and independent observers. The Ambassador obtained the highest rating granted by the Court's Independent Expert Report and the highest number of votes among the 18 candidates participating in the process.
Her election as a judge is of great importance for our country's international agenda and for international justice. She is the first Mexican to sit on the ICC and the first Mexican woman on an international court. For the next nine years, Ambassador Flores Liera will actively participate in building international justice and fighting against impunity for the most atrocious crimes committed against the community of nations.
The Ambassador's election is another step along the way to achieving gender equality within international organizations, and represents progress in the number of women at the various levels of the criminal justice system. Historically, women have been excluded from criminal justice. Their presence now demonstrates that progress is being made to make the institution more transparent, inclusive and representative, and that they make an important contribution to the quality of the decision-making and, therefore, to justice itself.
Ambassador Flores is a distinguished diplomat and member of the Mexican Foreign Service. Since 2017, she has been Mexico's permanent representative to the International Organizations based in Geneva, Switzerland. In the Foreign Ministry, she has served as Undersecretary for Latin America and the Caribbean, Director General for Global Issues, Director General for American Regional Organizations and Director of International Law in the Office of the Legal Counsel.
Judge Flores' has extensive experience in international criminal law: she has been a member of the Mexican delegation in charge of negotiating the Rome Statute, both in the Preparatory Committees and in the Rome Conference and, between 2006 and 2007, she was Mexico's Head of Office for the ICC to the UN. The new judges, including Ambassador Flores, will take their seats on the bench when called by the ICC Presidency.
* Photos courtesy of the International Criminal Court (ICC)