Solome Bossa

{{Infobox officeholder

| honorific-prefix = Honorable

| name = Solome Bossa

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| office = Judge of the International Criminal Court

|term_start = 11 March 2018{{cite web| url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Uganda-s-justice-Bossa-takes-oath-ICC-judge/688334-4335138-10dtuld/index.html | title=Uganda's justice Bossa takes oath as ICC judge |date=9 March 2018 |access-date=9 March 2018 |newspaper=Daily Monitor |first=Anthony |last=Wesaka |location=Kampala}}

| term_end =

| nominator = Uganda

| appointer = Assembly of States Parties

| birth_date = {{Birth date and age|df=y|1956|04|14}}

| birth_place = Nsambya Hospital, Uganda

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| nationality = Ugandan

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| alma_mater = Makerere University
Law Development Centre
Commonwealth Youth Centre
University of London

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| website =

}}

Solome Balungi Bossa (also Solomy Balungi Bossa; born 14 April 1956) is a Ugandan judge on the International Criminal Court (ICC). Prior to her election to the ICC, she was a member of the Court of Appeal in Uganda, which also doubles as the Constitutional Court in the Judiciary of Uganda. She was elected to a nine-year term on 5 December 2017{{cite web|newspaper=Daily Monitor | url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/Justice-Solome-Bossa-elected-International-Criminal-Court-judge/688334-4216348-153vcvkz/index.html | title=Justice Solome Bossa elected ICC judge | accessdate=6 December 2017 |date=5 December 2017 | location=Kampala | first=Tabu | last=Butagira}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.icc-cpi.int/CourtStructure/Pages/judge.aspx?name=Judge%20Solomy%20Balungi%20Bossa|title=judge|website=www.icc-cpi.int|language=en-GB|access-date=2018-03-09}} and was sworn in on 9 March 2018. Previously she was appointed to a six-year term on the African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights in 2014.

In June 2025, She was among the four ICC judges sanctioned by the Trump administration.

Early life and education

Solome Bossa was born on 14 April 1956 in Nsambya Hospital, in Uganda's capital city of Kampala.{{cite web | url=http://www.unmict.org/en/about/judges/judge-solomy-balungi-bossa| title=Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa| publisher=United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals}} Her father, Stanley Walusimbi Ssesanga, was a lawyer and her mother was a housewife.{{cite web | access-date=4 February 2018 | url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/Magazines/Full-Woman/Justice-Bossa-glance/689842-4289612-vi85mfz/index.html |date=4 February 2018 |title=Justice Bossa at a glance |newspaper=Daily Monitor |location=Kampala |first=Gillian |last=Nantume}}{{cite web | accessdate=6 December 2017 |date=6 December 2017 | url=http://www.unmict.org/en/about/judges/judge-solomy-balungi-bossa | title=United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals: Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa | publisher=United Nations Mechanism for International Criminal Tribunals (UNMICT) | author=UNMICT}}

Bossa attended Ugandan schools for her primary and secondary school education. In 1976, she was admitted to Makerere University, in Kampala, to study law. She graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree in 1979. She obtained a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Law Development Centre in Kampala. In 1987, she obtained a Certificate in Law Reporting, from the Commonwealth Youth Centre, in Lusaka, Zambia. Later, in 2016, she was awarded a Master of Laws (LLM) degree, by the University of London, specializing in Public International Law.{{cite web | url=https://iawj-womenjudges.org/hon-solomy-bossa/ |title=International Association of Women Judges: Pioneering Women Judges on International Courts: Honourable Solomy Balungi Bossa |accessdate=6 December 2017 |date=2016 | author=IAWJ |work=IAWJ: Pioneering Women Judges on International Courts |publisher=International Association of Women Judges (IAWJ)}}{{cite web| last=ACHPE | url=http://en.african-court.org/index.php/2-uncategorised/38-justice-solomy-balungi-bossa-uganda | title=African Court on Human and People's Rights: Justice Solomy Balungi Bossa – Uganda |publisher=African Court on Human and People's Rights (ACHPE) }}

Activism

Bossa has been a human rights activist since 1980 and founded non-profit organisation including the East African Centre for Constitutional Development, the Uganda Network on HIV, AIDS, Ethics and the Law and the Uganda Law Society.{{cite web|url=http://en.african-court.org/index.php/2-uncategorised/38-justice-solomy-balungi-bossa-uganda|title=Justice Solomy Balungi Bossa - Uganda|publisher=African Court on Human and Peoples' Rights}}

Career

Bossa was a lecturer at the Law Development Centre of Uganda from 1981 until 1997. She was a legal practitioner from 1988 until 1997, representing indigent women and expanding legal aid, including serving as president of the Uganda Law Society.{{cite web | url=

https://asp.icc-cpi.int/iccdocs/asp_docs/Elections/EJ2017/ICC-ASP-EJ2017-UGA-ST-ENG.pdf| publisher=International Criminal Court| title=Bossa, Solomy Balungi (Uganda)}}

She served as Judge at the Uganda High Court from 1997 until 2013. Bossa was a member of the East African Court of Justice for five years, from 2001 until 2006. She was a member of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (UNICTR) from 2003 until 2013. Bossa was a judge on the East African Court of Justice from 2001 until 2006 and on the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda from 2003 until 2013. She was appointed to the Ugandan Constitutional Court in 2013. In 2014, Bossa was elected Judge of the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights, for a six-year term.{{cite web | url=http://www.judiciary.go.ug/data/news/121/4514/Hon.%20Lady%20Justice%20Solomy%20Balungi%20Bossa%20Appointed%20to%20the%20African%20Court%20on%20Human%20and%20Peoples%EF%BF%BD%20Rights..html| title=Hon. Lady Justice Solomy Balungi Bossa Appointed to the African Court on Human and Peoples Rights| publisher=Judiciary of Uganda}}

In 2014, Bossa was one of the judges who annulled Uganda's Anti-Homosexuality Act for not being passed with the required quorum.{{cite web | url=http://www.monitor.co.ug/News/National/We-have-received-public-backlash-for-annulling-antigay-law/688334-2469726-jxprxhz/index.html| title=We have received public backlash for annulling antigay law- judge| date=30 September 2014| accessdate=23 September 2017| work=Daily Monitor| first=Anthony| last=Wesaka}} She received death threats on social media.{{cite web | url=http://www.mambaonline.com/2014/10/01/uganda-judge-annulled-anti-gay-law-faced-death-threats/| title=Uganda: Judge Who Annulled Anti-Gay Law Faced Death Threats| date=1 October 2014| accessdate=23 September 2017| work=Mamba}}

In 2017, Bossa became a nominee for the International Criminal Court and was elected later that year.

Other activities

International Commission of Jurists, Member
International Association of Women Judges, Member
East African Judges and Magistrate Association, Member
National Association of Women Judges, Member
Uganda Association of Judges and Magistrates, Member

Personal life

Bossa has been married to Joseph Bossa, a lawyer and Uganda People's Congress politician, since 1981. She is the mother of four children.{{cite web | access-date=15 December 2017 |newspaper=The Observer (Uganda) | url=http://www.observer.ug/component/content/article/57-features/feature/25325-who-are-the-new-judges | date=16 May 2013 |

title=Who are the new judges? |location=Kampala |last=Kakaire | first=Sulaiman}}

Publications

{{cite book | first=Solomy Balungi|last=Bossa| chapter=A Critique of the East African Court of Justice As A Human Rights Court| publisher=Martinus Nijhoff| year=2010| isbn=9789004189577| title=Protecting Humanity: Essays in International Law and Policy in Honour of Navanethem Pillay| pages=333–348|doi=10.1163/ej.9789004183780.i-882.72 | editor=C. Eboe-Osuji| url=http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/books/10.1163/ej.9789004183780.i-882.72/}}
{{cite journal | last=Bossa| first=Solomy Balungi| title=Towards a protocol extending the jurisdiction of the East African Court of Justice| journal=East African Journal of Human Rights & Democracy | volume=4 | year=2006|page=31}}

References

External links

[https://www.newvision.co.ug/new_vision/news/1046715/demolish-wall-kcc-tells-justice-bossa Demolish Wall, KCC Tells Justice Bossa]
[https://iawj-womenjudges.org/hon-solomy-bossa/ International Association of Women Judges profile and video]

Category:1956 births

Category:Living people

Category:Ganda people

Category:Makerere University alumni

Category:Law Development Centre alumni

Category:Academic staff of the Law Development Centre

Category:Alumni of the University of London

Category:International Criminal Court judges

Category:Ugandan women judges

Category:People from Central Region, Uganda

Category:East African Court of Justice judges

Category:International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda judges