Swiss judge who sentenced Thaçi runs for International Criminal Court – Could he one day face Putin?

Guénaël Mettraux, the Swiss judge who was part of the three-member trial panel that on September 16 sentenced former Kosovo leader Hashim Thaçi to 25 years in prison, is now aiming for one of the key positions in the global criminal justice system.

Switzerland has officially proposed Mettraux for the position of judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, for a term spanning from 2027 to 2036. The election process is scheduled to take place in December of this year. His success would mark a historic moment, making him the first Swiss-born judge in this institution.

The Swiss daily Blick has openly posed the question whether Mettraux’s professional path could one day intersect with a trial against Russian President Vladimir Putin.

From the Thaçi case to the ICC

Currently, Mettraux serves as a judge at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, where he was a member of Trial Panel II, together with colleagues Charles L. Smith III and Christoph Barthe, a composition confirmed by official court records.

On September 16, this panel delivered the guilty verdict for Hashim Thaçi, Kadri Veseli, Rexhep Selimi, and Jakup Krasniqi, finding them responsible for several war crimes. The sentences imposed were 25 years in prison for Thaçi and Krasniqi, 18 years for Veseli, and 13 years for Selimi.

Only a short time after this decision, Mettraux’s candidacy for the ICC has once again become the focus of attention in the Swiss press.

The Swiss government strongly supports his nomination. The candidacy profile highlights his over 25-year career in international criminal law and his involvement in six different mechanisms, including the ICC itself, the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, that for Rwanda, and the Kosovo Specialist Chambers.

For a segment of public opinion in Kosovo, which after the sentencing of Thaçi and his co-defendants has expressed skepticism about the biases and influences on the Specialist Court, Mettraux’s aim for the ICC creates a striking contrast: the same judge who contributed to Thaçi’s sentencing could potentially one day find himself examining a case against Vladimir Putin.

The Putin case

Since March 17, 2023, Russian President Vladimir Putin has been the target of an arrest warrant issued by the ICC.

According to the court, there are strong grounds to believe that he bears individual criminal responsibility for the alleged war crime, specifically the unlawful deportation and transfer of children from occupied Ukrainian areas to Russia. These claims have not yet been examined in a full trial and Putin remains beyond the physical reach of the court’s authorities.

It is precisely this circumstance that has prompted the newspaper Blick to raise the scenario that, if Mettraux secures a seat at the ICC and if Putin ever faces justice, the Swiss judge could be a potential candidate to become part of the trial panel for this case. However, at the moment there is no indication that Mettraux would be assigned specifically to this case.

Two distinct institutions in The Hague

It should be clarified that there is a fundamental distinction: the Kosovo Specialist Chambers, where Mettraux handled the Thaçi and others case, and the International Criminal Court are two independent bodies, despite both being headquartered in The Hague.

The ICC is a permanent court of an international character, which deals with genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, and, under specific circumstances, the crime of aggression. Investigations into the situation in Ukraine have been ongoing since March 2022.

Mettraux, who is 52 years old, has an extensive background as a lawyer, legal advisor, and expert in a range of international trials. His candidacy materials also show that he possesses around 12 years of direct experience with the procedural mechanisms of the ICC.