Currently, at the ICC, he is Associate Counsel for Mahamat Said and Rodrigo Duterte, the former President of the Republic of the Philippines.
Previously he was on the Defence team of Laurent Gbagbo at the ICC and a member of the Defense team of Félicien Kabuga and Duty Counsel in the Jojic case at the MICT. He has also been involved as an Amicus Curiae in both the Afghanistan and Palestine Situations at the ICC, along with Josh Kern from 9BR.
Having completed his studies at Sciences Po in Paris, Paris I - La Sorbonne (comparative law) and Paris II- Pantheon Assas (Public International Law), Dov Jacobs completed his PhD at the European University Institute in Florence on Hybrid Tribunals. He joined the University of Amsterdam in 2010 as a researcher on the SHARES project, which explores concepts and practices of shared responsibility in international law and joined Leiden University in 2011 as an Assistant Professor in International Law. He taught numerous topics, including public international law, transitional justice and international criminal law and participated in a number of research projects.
In the Gbagbo case, Dov Jacobs participated in all relevant proceedings from the confirmation of charges to the trial, which led to the acquittal of Laurent Gbagbo in January 2019 following a ‘no case to answer’ procedure, an acquittal confirmed on appeal in March 2021. In the Said case, he contributed to half the charges being dropped at the pre-trial stage. In the Kabuga case, Dov Jacobs took the lead on the litigation on Félicien Kabuga’s fitness to stand trial, and succesfully plead for the suspension of the proceedings.
Dov Jacobs is an expert in international criminal procedure, immunities and state responsability, and regularly advises States, NGOs and victims on issues of state responsibility, human rights and accountability.
Dov Jacobs’ extensive published work has covered a diversity of issues, from shared responsibility in international law, immunities, criminal procedure and the rights of the defence, as well as transitional justice. He regularly comments on issues of international law on his blog, ‘Spreading the Jam’.
