The Senegalese judge is one of two Prosecutors elected at the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (“the Assembly”), which held its twentieth session from 6 to 10 December 2021 at the World Forum Convention Center in The Hague.
The Assembly of States Parties elected two Deputy Prosecutors: Ms. Nazhat Shameen Khan (Fiji) and Mame Mandiaye Niang (Senegal), for a nine-year term beginning on the day of their solemn undertaking.
Born on September 20, 1960, Mame Mandiaye Niang, 61, holds a Master’s degree in private law and a diploma from the National School of Administration and Magistracy in Dakar. Describing himself as a pure product of the Senegalese university and judicial system, Mame Mandiaye Niang has 34 years of experience in the judicial sector. Prior to his election to the ICC, he was Prosecutor General of the Court of Appeal of Saint-Louis, Senegal. He also served as a judge at the Regional Court of Dakar, Senegal; as a prosecutor at the Regional Court of Dakar, Senegal; and as a deputy to the Attorney General of the Supreme Court of Senegal, between 1993 and 1997. During his career as a judge and prosecutor in Senegal, he led government negotiations with more than ten countries on extradition and mutual legal assistance.
Experience in international justice
Subsequently, he joined the international justice system as a judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) and the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY). He was sworn in before the Joint Appeals Chamber of the ICTR and ICTY on October 30, 2013, following his appointment by the UN Secretary General as a permanent judge of the ICTR where he began sitting on September 11, 2013, both at trial and appeal. There, he was also a member of the ICTR’s Investigation Team (1997-2000) and served in several capacities involving the provision of legal and policy advice, assistance in drafting judicial decisions, representation and the performance of administrative functions. He also served as Senior Legal Advisor to the Judges of the ICTR Trial Chambers and as Special Assistant to the ICTR Registrar. During his tenure, he participated in the drafting of the first decisions of the ICTR, based in Arusha, Tanzania.
Judge Mame Mandiaye Niang also served as the UN Office on Drugs and Crime representative for Southern Africa.
Return to Senegal
Returning to Senegal after his international experience, Judge Mame Mandiaye Niang served as Director of Criminal Affairs and Pardons at the Senegalese Ministry of Justice (2016-2020); was a member and rapporteur of the Senegalese Law Review Commission; an expert member of the Senegalese Human Rights Committee, as well as a member of the Senegalese section of the International Criminal Law Association.
Judge Niang has published several articles in selective legal journals in French and English and has co-authored several books on international humanitarian law. He is also a guest lecturer in international humanitarian law at the Dakar Judicial Training Center, the University of Rwanda and the Makere University Institute of International Law in Uganda.
Judge Mame Mandiaye Niang has taught criminal law at the National School for Specialized Assistants and Educators, and has been an expert/resource person for the African Network for Integrated Development and the Judicial Training Center of Senegal.
