 In 2001, Kessler was elected to the Italian Parliament as an independent member.He sat on the Committee on Justice Affairs and during his five-year term, he authored numerous bills on the International Criminal Court (ICC), the European Convention against corruption, the International Judiciary Cooperation and the European Arrest Warrant.In addition to his committee assignments, Kessler was also a member of the Italian delegation to the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE).