This article seeks to explain the proper role of defence counsel in criminal proceedings an in international criminal proceedings in particular. It is contended that a clarification of this role is all the more important in the context of international criminal trials. Where lawyers (defence counsel, prosecution counsel and judges) from all over the world work together in one legal system, they will inevitably bring in a variety of assumptions on the parameters of the role of defence counsel. In this context, the author refers to the Basic Principles throughout the article.