Fatoumata Dembele Diarra
International Criminal Court (ICC)

Fatoumata Diarra was born on February 15, 1949, at Koulikoro in Mali. She holds a certificat de licence en droit (LLB) from the University of Dakar (1971), a maîtrise en droit privé (LLM in private law) from the Mali École Nationale d'Administration (French National College of Public Administration) (1973) as well as a diploma in Implementation of Regional and International Standards for the Protection of Human Rights. She is also a graduate of the École Nationale de la Magistrature (French National School for the Judiciary).
Fatoumata began her legal career as an Examining Magistrate and then became Deputy Public Prosecutor. She was subsequently appointed as National Director for the Administration of Justice in Mali from 1999 until August 2001. Other positions occupied by Diarra throughout her local career are President of the Criminal Chamber and Chamber of Assize of the Court of Appeal of Bamako and judge of the Constitutional Court in Mali. She is currently the President of the Council of the Université des Sciences Juridiques et Politiques de Bamako.
In 2001, she was elected ad litem judge for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) where she served for two years. She was subsequently appointed judge at the International Criminal Court (ICC) where she served as the First Vice-President of the Court between 2009 and 2012. She further worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross on humanitarian law and with the Agence de la Francophonie (Agency for the Francophone World) within the framework of the Preparatory Committee on the draft Rules of Procedure and Evidence and on the definition of the Elements of Crimes which fall within the jurisdiction of the ICC.
Judge Diara is recognized as the founder of several organizations including the Pro Bono Center for women and children in Mali, Association des femmes jurists which she founded in 1976, the Office on Relief for Impoverished Women and Children, and the Women's and Children's Rights Monitoring Body (Observatoire des droits de la femme et de l'enfant). Again, she was the Vice-President of the International Federation of Women in Legal Careers (IFWLC).