The first vice president of the International Criminal Court, which sits in The Hague, Netherlands, will lecture at UC Davis on Tuesday, Jan. 10, about women, marriage and property succession without a will in Africa.

Judge Akua Kuenyehia of Ghana is assigned to the pre-trial division of the court, which determines if a case falls within the jurisdiction of the court. The court is the first permanent, treaty-based, international criminal court established to promote the rule of law and ensure that the gravest international crimes do not go unpunished. It tries crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The court has also worked to provide women with greater protection from violations of human rights and humanitarian law by criminalizing sexual and gender violence as war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Kuenyehia's lecture is presented as the School of Law's annual Brigitte M. Bodenheimer lecture on family law, an endowed series bringing scholars and practitioners together to discuss recent developments affecting the family.

The judge has written three books and numerous other academic publications on gender and the law, family law, and international human rights. She has also coordinated research on women and law in Anglophone West Africa, covering Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and The Gambia.

Kuenyehia is a barrister and solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana. Before her election to the international court, she was dean of law at the University of Ghana and a member of the United Nations' Committee on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women.

The lecture, which begins at 4 p.m. in the Moot Courtroom of King Hall, is free. For more information, call (530) 754-5335 or e-mail lawalumnievents@ucdavis.edu.