1. Background Information

The International Criminal Court (ICC) is a permanent international court established to investigate, prosecute and try individuals accused of committing crimes in the scope of the ICC’s jurisdiction. The ICC is composed of four organs. These are the Presidency, the Chambers, the Office of the Prosecutor and the Registry. The ICC Headquarters are based in The Hague, The Netherlands. The ICC has one Liaison Office in New York and maintains full-time physical presences in six situation countries, namely, Uganda, Democratic Republic of Congo, Central African Republic, Côte d'Ivoire, Mali, Ukraine. In total, the ICC has activities in relation to 17 countries globally. The ICC has around 1,200 staff.

The Registry, headed by the Registrar, is responsible for non-judicial aspects of the administration and servicing of the Court, without prejudice to the functions and powers of the Prosecutor. This includes providing management and judicial support services to the Court, as well as those aspects of external relations and field operations falling within the purview of the Registry.

Accordingly, the Registry is composed of three Divisions: 1) Division of Management Services, 2) Division of Judicial Services, and 3) Division of External Operations. Each Division is headed by a Director, and the three Directors, together with the Chief of Office, support the Registrar through the Registry Management Team (RMT) in ensuring that the Registry fulfils its tasks effectively and efficiently.

The Registry’s Legal Office (RLO) is directly under the authority of the Registrar.

The Immediate Office of the Registrar (IOR) supports the Registrar in setting the Registry’s strategic objectives, overseeing inter-organ relations as well as in enhancing internal communication for the whole Court and driving the development of Court-wide policies.

The IOR is responsible for coordinating, and where required taking the lead in, the engagement with the Presidency, the OTP, the secretariats, and the other offices on matters of strategy and policy.

The IOR also acts as the operational focal point for the Registry’s Divisions, providing practical support to the Registrar with a view to ensuring, in a coordinated and effective manner, the overall managerial oversight and control of the Registry.

Given that the Registry is the largest and, in terms of its functions, most diverse organ of the Court, managerial and oversight functions are very important. In this regard, the IOR plays a key role in a number of areas, including the preparation of the Court’s budget, addressing staff related issues, facilitating the conclusion of agreements, and indeed in virtually all other fields of the Registry’s operations. At the same time, through the Registrar’s representational role, the IOR aims to widening the support for and the understanding of the mandate of the Registry and of the Court in the international arena.

2. Purpose

The primary objectives of this consultancy are:

• Conduct a Court-wide audit to assess existing functions normally covered by an Ethics office that are already being covered by other existing structures and mechanisms;
• Identify the existing gaps in the current ICC framework that would be filled in by an Ethics office, and identify the specific functions that should be covered by that office;
• Develop possible options for that Ethics office to be established (in-house, outsourced, staff or consultant), including by benchmarking the experiences of comparable or relevant international organisations and judicial bodies, identifying roles and responsibilities, initial terms of reference, staff and non-staff resources needs, modus operandi with the different parts of the ICC.

3. Scope of Work

The Consultant will undertake the following tasks to achieve the set objectives:

• Review existing functions, policies and practices that are related to the ethics function;
• Conduct interviews and consultations with key stakeholders, including Principals, staff members, the Staff Union Council and members of the Staff Wellbeing and Engagement Committee, to understand the needs and have insights in the ICC.
• Conduct a baseline assessment of any existing data, policy etc to ensure there is no duplication of roles and procedure.
• Provide tools (e.g., templates, guidelines, ToRs, vacancy announcements).
• Prepare a detailed report outlining findings, analysis and recommendations.

The consultant is expected to work closely with the IOR as well as consult widely with internal stakeholders to be identified by the IOR.

4. Expected Deliverables

The following are the expected assignment deliverables:

1. Provide a comprehensive report detailing findings, analysis and recommendations on the establishment of an ethics function / office in the ICC;
2. Provide tools to support and facilitate the implementation of the possible models identified for this ethics office / function.

5. Duration

The Consultant is expected to complete the deliverable from 15/09/2025 to 28/11/2025

6. Reporting

The consultant shall report to the Chief of Office of the Registrar, and work in close collaboration with a number of relevant internal stakeholders.

7. Required Qualifications and Expertise:

1. Demonstrate prior experience in advising, developing and/or implementing ethic functions in an international organisation context, preferably with a judicial / human rights dimension (7 to 10 years of demonstrated experience);
2. Demonstrate experience in engaging with the leadership of such organisations to advise them on the matter, as well as to engage and consult a wide range of internal stakeholders in this process;
3. Experience in working in a multi-cultural, multidisciplinary work environment;
4. Excellent communication and interpersonal skills, with experience in stakeholder engagement and consultation
5. Have excellent proven written and spoken English or French and strong oral and written communication skills.

8. Budget and Payment Terms: The Pro Bono services are preferred. Pre-approved travel costs and daily subsistence allowances will be based according to the rates established at the ICC. For fee-based services, the total price shall be in a fixed lump-sum amount, and milestone payments corresponding to outputs shall be indicated in the proposal. Payments under the contract will be output-based and will be made upon satisfactory completion of each milestone and finally upon the satisfactory completion of the assignment. The ICC’s general terms and conditions for consultants or procurement of services will be applied, based on the selected contract modality. Should the consultant be required to travel to the Netherlands, pre-approved travel costs and daily subsistence allowances will be based according to the rates established at the ICC.

1. Submission of Proposals: This opportunity is limited to individuals that would like to engage with the Court directly and is not extended to commercial companies. Interested consultants or Individual Service Providers are invited to submit their proposals, including a detailed methodology, work plan, timeline, budget, and CV(s) of the consultant(s), by 30 June 2025.

General Information

• All candidates will be informed of the results of their application at the end of the recruitment process.
• The selected candidate will be subject to a security clearance process in accordance with ICC policy. The security clearance process will include but will not be limited to, verification of the information provided in the personal history form and a criminal record check. All candidates should be in a position to submit an electronic copy of their passport and all diplomas listed on their profile when requested;
• Applicants may check the status of vacancies on ICC E-Recruitment web-site.