Erkki Kourula

Judge Kourula holds two degrees (LL.M. and LL.Lic.) in law from the University of Helsinki and a doctorate in international law from the University of Oxford.

In 1979, He was appointed as a judge of first instance in Finland.

In 1982-1983 he was professor of international law at the University of Lapland. He later worked in various roles within the Finnish government, including Director-General of Legal Affairs in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs, Ambassador to the Council of Europe, and Legal Advisor at the Permanent Mission of Finland to the United Nations in New York. He was also an agent for Finland before the European Court of Human Rights and the Court of Justice of the European Communities. Judge Kourula was Head of the Finnish delegation and co-ordinator for jurisdictional issues at the Rome Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court.

He was an Appeals Judge and twice President of the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Court (2003-2015).