Usacka, Anita

Born April 26, 1952 in Riga , Latvia . The only daughter of Arthur Ushatskis and Anna Krontale, in whose family two more older brothers were raised - Ivars (born in 1944) and Juris (born in 1948). December 13, 1980 the son of Alexei Ushatskis was born. Judge Usacka is married to Peter Wilkicki. ^[one]

Usacka spent her childhood in Riga , where she graduated from high school. From 1970 to 1975 she studied at the Faculty of Law of the University of Latvia with a degree in Law. After graduation, she entered graduate school at the Faculty of Law of Moscow State University in the Department of Administrative and Financial Law (the head is Professor Yu.M. Kozlov). In 1980, she successfully defended her thesis on "Industrial Administration of the Latvian SSR (administrative-legal aspect)" ^[2] for the degree of candidate of legal sciences (supervisor - professor A.P. Alyokhin).

In 1991, she studied human rights law at the International Institute for Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. In 1993-1994. Engaged in research activities in the field of comparative criminal law and human rights law at the School of Law at the University of Notre Dame (Eng. The Notre Dame Law School), South Bend, Indiana, USA. After receiving a scholarship to study comparative criminal law, in 1994 spent six months as a researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Foreign and International Criminal Law, Freiburg, Germany.

In 2006, Anita Usack was awarded the title of Honorary Doctor of Jurisprudence by the Lewis and Clark Law School, Portland, Oregon, USA. In her inaugural speech, the judge paid special attention to the importance of developing a global system based on the rule of law and the protection of human rights. ^[3]

After graduating from the University of Latvia, she was engaged in teaching and research activities. She began her academic career as an assistant at the Department of Fundamentals of Law, in 1980 she was appointed to the position of teacher, in 1982 - to the position of senior teacher, in 1989 - the head of the department, in 1993 - assistant professor.

She was appointed associate professor at the Riga Graduate School of Law in 1999, and in 2002 became a full professor at the University of Latvia . During her time at the University of Latvia, she introduced new disciplines: “comparative law” for law students, “human rights” and “public law” for non-legal students. In 1999, she was invited by a professor to the Robert Schuman University in Strasbourg, France, where she taught the course “Development of Constitutionalism in Latvia and Human Rights”. From 2002 to 2003, she taught comparative constitutional law at the Lewis and Clark Law School.

From 1998 to 2001, Judge Usacka was the director of the cooperation program between the Lewis and Clark Law School and the University of Latvia Law School. ^[4] In partnership with the Lewis and Clark Law School , Judge Usacka co-authored a $ 120,000 3-year grant, which was approved by the Bureau of Education and Cultural Relations of the US Information Agency. ^[five]

Two years after the restoration of independence of Latvia, Usacka was appointed to the post of Executive Director of UNICEF in Latvia, her responsibilities included issues related to the protection of children's rights and ensuring compliance of Latvian legislation with the International Convention on the Rights of the Child . ^[6]

In June 1994, the Latvian Seimas introduced amendments to the Law "On Judicial Power" ^{[7] by} founding the first Constitutional Court in the history of the country. In 1996, Anita Usacka, on the proposal of the Parliament, was elected one of six judges to the Constitutional Court of the Republic of Latvia on 10-year lines. ^[eight]

In 2002, Usacka was nominated by the Republic of Latvia as a candidate for the position of judge in the newly created International Criminal Court located in The Hague , the Netherlands . ^[9] She was one of 18 judges (out of 43 candidates) elected by the Assembly of States Parties to the first ICC judiciary. Judge Usacka was one of 7 women and the only judge elected from a group of Eastern European states. She was sworn in at the first court hearing on March 11, 2003. ^[10] After the election of judges to the International Criminal Court , the President of the Assembly of States Parties by drawing lots determined the lines of appointment as a judge on three-, six- or nine-year lines. ^[11] Judges elected on three-year lines were eligible to be re-elected. After being elected for a three-year period, Judge Usacka was re-elected in 2006 to a new nine-year line, which expires in 2015.

After the inauguration in 2003, judges were appointed to various judicial departments. During his first three-year period, Judge Usacka was attached to the First Trial Chamber. From 2007 to 2009, she was temporarily transferred to the First Pre-Trial Chamber, the jurisdiction of which was the Prosecutor v. Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngujolo Chui, which confirmed the charge against both suspects.

During the stay of Judge Usacki in the First Pre-Trial Chamber, this chamber, upon the statement of the prosecutor, issued an arrest warrant for the incumbent President of the Sudan, Omar al-Bashir . At the plenary session of judges in March 2009, she was appointed to the appeals department, where she presided from April 2011 to March 2012.

Judge Usacki has extensive teaching experience and numerous publications in various fields of law, including constitutional law, administrative law, international law, international criminal law and process, comparative law and human rights law. Recent publications include:

1. “The International Criminal Court in Action: Challenges in Fighting Impunity”, IUS NOVUM,, no. 1 (2014), pp. 11–45. ^[12]
2. “Promises are fulfilled? Some Thoughts on the Activities of the International Criminal Court in its First Decade ”(Eng.“ Promises Fulfilled? Some Reflections on the International Criminal Court in Its First Decade ”), Criminal Law Forum, vol. 22, no. 4 (2011), p. 473-492 .
3. Further Development of the International Criminal Court (Building the International Criminal Court), Pacific McGeorge Global Buisness & Development Law Journal, vol. 23, no. 2 (2011), p. 225-242.

Since 1997, Judge Usacka has been an active member of the International Association of Women Judges, ^[13] which supported her candidacy for election to the International Criminal Court . Usacka participated in conferences of the association several times, including in 1998 at the conference in Ottawa, Canada, with the report “The child as a witness and his legal status in Latvian law”. In May 2006, she led a sessional meeting at the Eighth Biennial Association Conference on Independent Justice: Culture, Religion, Gender, Politics, held in Sydney, Australia. ^[14] Since 2004 - Member of the European Group of Public Law. In the past, she often participated in conferences organized by the Center of Public Law in Athens, Greece. Judge Usacka participated in various conferences on international criminal law. She also takes an active part in conferences in Russia and publishes articles in Russian. Of the selected publications in Russian, the following:

1. Ushacka A. International Criminal Court, the principle of complementarity and globalization of criminal law // Scientific foundations of criminal law and globalization processes: Materials of the V Russian Congress of Criminal Law (May 27-28, 2010). - Moscow: Prospect, 2010.S. 217-222.
2. Ushacka A. International Criminal Court and the right to a fair trial // Comparative Constitutional Review, 2009. No. 1 (68). S. 117-130.
3. Ushatska A. International Criminal Court and the right to a fair trial // International Criminal Justice / Ed. G.I. Bogusha, E.N. Trikoz. M .: Institute of Law and Public Policy, 2009.S. 275-294.
4. Ushatska A. Essay on the activities of the International Criminal Court // International Criminal Court: problems, discussions, search for solutions / Ed. G.I. Bogusha, E.N. Trikoz. M .: European Commission, 2008.S. 32-40.
5. Ushacka A. International Criminal Court and National Criminal Law // Consistency in Criminal Law Materials of the II Russian Congress of Criminal Law, (May 31 - June 1, 2007). - Moscow, 2007.S. 423-426.
6. Ushacka A. Complementarity regime of the International Criminal Court // International Law - International Law. 2007. No1 (29). S. 5-40.
7. Usacka A. The role of the constitutional court in the protection of electoral rights: an example of Latvia // Comparative Constitutional Review, 2005. No. 1 (50) . S. 83-85.

Judge Usacka is a member of the editorial board of the international justice scientific journal .

Of the latest scientific conferences in the field of international and criminal law in Russia, Judge Ushacka participated and spoke at the following:

1. V Russian Congress of Criminal Law "Scientific foundations of criminal law and the processes of globalization", Moscow State University M.V. Lomonosova, May 27-28, 2010, Moscow .
2. International conference “International criminal justice: current status and development prospects”, organized by the Institute of Law and Public Policy in cooperation with the Russian Association of International Law (RAMP) as part of the project “Promotion of the principles of international criminal justice in Russia”, February 6, 2009, Moscow.
3. Scientific-practical seminar “International Criminal Justice: Current Issues” within the framework of the project “Promotion of the Principles of International Criminal Justice in Russia”, implemented by the Institute of Law and Public Policy, October 3, 2008, St. Petersburg.
4. II Russian Congress of Criminal Law “Consistency in Criminal Law”, Moscow State University M.V. Lomonosova, May 31, 2007, Moscow .
5. International round table “Legislation on the Implementation of the Rome Statute in the Russian Federation: Problems and Prospects”, organized jointly by the Institute of Legislation and Comparative Law under the Government of the Russian Federation and the Institute of Law and Public Policy in the framework of the European Union project (EIDHR Program) “Information and ratification campaign on activities International Criminal Court in Russia, Turkey and Central Asia, June 7, 2007, Moscow.
6. International Conference "Nuremberg Trials and Problems of International Law", November 9-10, 2006, Moscow .

• Biography on the ICC portal

1. ↑ " Peter Wilkitzki ".
2. ↑ " Link to the dissertation table of contents ".
3. ↑ " Inaugural address at the Lewis and Clark Law School Archived September 30, 2011. ".
4. ↑ " Summary of Judge Usacki, ICC Official Website ."
5. ↑ " Lewis and Clark Law School begins exchange (Eng." Lewis & Clark School Begins Exchange ") Archived July 14, 2012. ".
6. ↑ " CICC Questionnaire to judicial candidates of the International Criminal Court ". "
7. ↑ " Judges of the Constitutional Court of Latvia. Official website of the Constitutional Court of Latvia) ."
8. ↑ " Judges of the Constitutional Court of Latvia. Official website of the Constitutional Court of Latvia) "
9. ↑ " Nomination of Anita Ušacka to ICC") .
10. ↑ " Chronology of the International Criminal Court (Official Website of the ICC) ."
11. ↑ "Articles 36 and 41 of the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court."
12. ↑ " IUS NOVUM, no. 1, 2014 ".
13. ↑ " Website of the International Association of Women Judges ". "
14. ↑ " Program of the Eighth Conference of the International Association of Women Judges in Sydney, Australia, 2006 (Program of the IAWJ May 2006 Biennial Conference in Sydney, Australia") (unavailable link) . "