President Anthony Carmona yesterday expressed shock and heartfelt sorrow over the passing of former attorney general and former judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karl Hudson-Phillips, QC.In his condolence message, Carmona described Hudson-Phillips as an excellent judge at the ICC who played a principal role in formulating procedural ground rules for the effective implementation of court proceedings and the Rome Statute.Carmona, who replaced Hudson-Phillips at the ICC, said Hudson-Phillips as "dean of the judges," chaired the first meetings of the Judicial Bench of the International Criminal Court.
He said Hudson-Phillips, in the pre-trial chamber of the court (ICC), played a pivotal role for subsequent and on-going prosecutions. According to Carmona, Hudson-Phillips "was a fiercely independent and incisive intellect, rivalled by few."He said Hudson-Phillips was a "respected legal luminary," who as an expert in human rights, was appointed by the president of the United Nations Human Rights Council to head the panel of experts to investigate and determine whether Israel's Gaza flotilla raid in May 2010 breached international law.Carmona said Hudson-Phillips' achievements in the field of law were recognised in real terms by his being bestowed in 2010 the highest accolade of the land, the Order of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago.The President said Hudson-Phillips's passing was "a great loss" and the country was "left poorer by his untimely death."