Tomoko Akane (born 1956) is a Japanese jurist and President of the International Criminal Court (ICC). After graduating from the University of Tokyo’s Faculty of Law, she became a public prosecutor in 1982. Her career included criminal prosecutions across Japan and appointments as chief prosecutor of the Hakodate District Public Prosecutors Office, director of the United Nations Asia and Far East Institute for the Prevention of Crime and the Treatment of Offenders, director of Japan’s Research and Training Institute of the Ministry of Justice, and prosecutor at the Supreme Public Prosecutors Office. She also taught at law schools and worked on judicial training and legal development assistance. She became an ICC judge in 2018 and, in March 2024, the first Japanese person elected President of the Court. The role of international criminal justice and the pressures facing the ICC are explained through her own experiences in “Senso Hanzai to Tatakau: Kokusai Keiji Saibansho wa Kusshinai,” whose title means “Fighting War Crimes: The International Criminal Court Will Not Yield.” Discussing cases concerning Ukraine and Palestine, Akane describes how the Court seeks to establish individual responsibility for serious international crimes. She addresses Russia’s decision to place her on its wanted list and the threat of U.S. sanctions, examining the difficulty of maintaining judicial independence while sustaining the Court’s work. Recounting her path from Japanese prosecution to international justice, she also considers Japan’s contribution to the rule of law and the need to broaden understanding of and cooperation with the ICC in Asia.
