Four Judges Elected to the International Court of Justice: Fifth Seat Heads to Further Ballots
The UN General Assembly and Security Council voted in New York on November 3 to elect judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Dapo Akande of the United Kingdom, François Alabrune of France, Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan and Rena Lee of Singapore obtained absolute majorities in both organs in the first ballot and were elected for nine-year terms beginning February 6, 2027. No candidate has yet secured both majorities for the fifth seat, which has gone to further ballots.
The UK government confirmed Akande's election in an announcement the same day. Akande is Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford and a Fellow of All Souls College, and an elected member of the UN International Law Commission. He qualified as a lawyer in Nigeria and has nearly three decades of experience as a scholar and practising lawyer, acting as counsel, adviser and expert in cases before international courts and tribunals including the ICJ. His election restores UK representation on the Court after an absence of almost a decade, the UK having had no judge on the bench since 2018. "I am deeply honoured to be elected to the International Court of Justice," Akande said in the announcement, thanking the states that backed him and pledging to decide cases independently and apply the law impartially.
Rena Lee, 57, is the first Singaporean elected to the Court. Singapore's Ambassador for International Law, she presided over the UN intergovernmental conference that adopted the BBNJ Agreement on marine biodiversity by consensus.
Alabrune is France's ambassador to the Netherlands and a former legal adviser to the French foreign ministry who has represented France before the ICJ and other international tribunals. Hmoud of Jordan is a sitting judge who won re-election; his current term was due to expire on February 5, 2027.
The contest for the fifth seat continues. Sitting judge Phoebe Okowa of Kenya received 87 votes in the General Assembly and four in the Security Council in the second ballot, short of the required majorities. Sierra Leone has withdrawn its candidate, Charles Chernor Jalloh, and thrown its support behind Okowa, and the two organs are holding a third round of voting for the remaining vacancy.
The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, seated at the Peace Palace in The Hague, and is composed of 15 judges, five of whom are elected every three years. Election requires an absolute majority in both the 193-member General Assembly (at least 97 votes) and the 15-member Security Council (at least eight votes). The five judges whose terms expire on February 5, 2027 are Ronny Abraham of France, Dalveer Bhandari of India, Leonardo Nemer Caldeira Brant of Brazil, Hmoud of Jordan and Okowa of Kenya.
Related: UK: Lord Chancellor Campaigns at UN for British Candidate for International Court of Justice
(Source: UK Government)
Source: UK Government
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于荷兰海牙和平宫的国际法院总部。国际法院官方照片，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: The International Court of Justice at the Peace Palace, The Hague. Photo by the International Court of Justice, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
