The Specialist Prosecutor is responsible for the investigation and prosecution of persons responsible for crimes falling within the jurisdiction of the Specialist Chambers and is independent in the performance of his or her functions.
The Specialist Prosecutor is Kimberly West, a former US federal prosecutor with extensive experience in both domestic and international criminal investigations.
Ms West joined the SPO in 2023 from the Ashcroft Law Firm in Boston, Massachusetts, where she had been a partner since 2019.
Prior to joining the Ashcroft Law Firm, Ms West worked as a prosecutor for more than two decades in local, state, federal and international roles.
Between 2015 and 2019, Ms West was the Chief of the Criminal Bureau in the Massachusetts Attorney General’s Office. In that capacity, she supervised a team of more than 120 professionals responsible for investigating and prosecuting a wide range of financial fraud, public corruption, narcotics, gaming and human trafficking offenses; defending convictions on appeal; and assisting victims and witnesses.
Ms West joined the Attorney General’s Office from the US Attorney’s Office, District of Massachusetts, where she served as an Assistant US Attorney in the Health Care Fraud Unit for two years and in the National Security Unit for six years. Ms West joined the National Security Unit after the 11 September 2001 terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.
For five years, between 2008 and 2013, Ms West served as a prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, where she was a member of the team that prosecuted Radovan Karadžić for his role in the Srebrenica genocide. She was also on the Prlić et al. prosecution team focusing on the crimes committed in Mostar and the destruction of the Old Bridge.
Ms West has a Juris Doctor degree from Suffolk University Law School, Massachusetts, and was admitted to the bar in Massachusetts. She also has a Bachelor of Arts degree from Boston College, Massachusetts.