Dr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo

On 21 April 2003, the Assembly of States Parties elected Dr. Luis Moreno-Ocampo of Argentina as first Prosecutor of the Court. Dr. Moreno-Ocampo has a distinguished career as prosecutor, trial attorney, university lecturer and legal strategist on issues ranging from international criminal justice to human rights law, corruption control and journalists' protection.

From October to April 1984, he led the investigations into the case against 9 senior Army commanders, including 3 former heads of state, from the military juntas which ruled Argentina between 1976 and 1980. The subsequent trial, which was held between October 1984 and April 1985 and led to the sentencing of the 5 of the accused, was the first case brought against individuals responsible for mass killings since the Nuremberg Trial of Nazi officers. During the proceedings, Dr. Moreno-Ocampo presented arguments for 700 counts of "murder, kidnapping and torture," calling 835 witnesses and citing thousands of documents. He later prosecuted those responsible for mass killings during the 1987 and 1992 military rebellions in Argentina.

For a decade after the so-called "Junta Trials," Dr. Moreno-Ocampo was involved in several high profile cases of international criminal justice, including the extradition of the former Nazi officer Mr. Erich Priebke to Italy, the trial of Chilean secret police for the murder of General Carlos Prats and case against military commanders accused of malpractice during the Malvinas/Falklands war.

A member of the global board of Transparency International, Dr. Moreno-Ocampo has also been a visiting professor at both Stanford University and Harvard University. He has resigned from all of these institutions in order to remain impartial during his tenure as Prosecutor of the Court.