International Court of Justice
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Background
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the primary UN body that deals with judicial matters. It was established in 1946 and replaced the Permanent Court of International Justice. The ICJ mainly operates under the previous Court's statute, which is included in the UN Charter. The Court has two main functions: to settle legal disputes submitted by States in accordance with established international laws, and to act as an advisory board on issues submitted to it by authorized international organizations. Only UN Member States may appear before the Court, and it has jurisdiction only if both parties agree to submit the complaint or it involves a treaty that has already given the Court the right to settle a dispute between states party over the contents of the treaty, as long as one party decides to refer the dispute to the Court (read more).
Selection Process and Criteria for Judges
The Court is made up of 15 judges serving in their individual capacities. The judges are elected to nine-year terms by an absolute majority in the General Assembly (currently 97 votes) and Security Council (8 votes). The timing of elections is staggered so that once every three years the GA elects one third of the Court.
The judges are chosen from a list of individuals nominated by the national groups in the Permanent Court of Arbitration.
Although judges on the Court do not represent their nations, but act as independent agents, there cannot be more than one judge of each nationality. Further, the composition of the Court must follow geographic distribution, a practice that has become tradition within the Court.
- Africa - 3
- Latin American and Caribbean - 2
- Asia - 3
- Western Europe and other States - 5
- Eastern Europe - 2
In addition, the Court can only have one national from each country on the Bench.
This distribution mimics the geographical distribution of the Security Council. Moreover, according to the Court's website, "although there is no entitlement to membership on the part of any country, the Court has always included judges of the nationality of the permanent members of the Security Council."
As a matter of practice, the Court often includes judges with the same nationality as one of the States party to a case. A State party with a case before the ICJ, when no judge of its nationality is a member of the Bench, may choose a justice to sit ad hoc on the bench.
Qualifications for candidature are based on high moral character, and a candidate must have the same qualifications as required to sit on the highest court/judicial office of his or her home country.
Update
The most recent election for judges on the Court took place on November 6, 2008. The UN General Assembly and the Security Council elected the following five judges, who started their nine-year terms on February 6, 2009.
- Mr. Ronny Abraham (France) - 152 GA votes, 13 SC votes (re-elected)
- Mr. Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh (Jordan) - 151 GA votes, 13 SC votes (re-elected)
- Mr. Antonio A. Cançado Trindade (Brazil) - 163 GA votes, 14 SC votes
- Mr. Christopher Greenwood (United Kingdom) - 157 GA votes, 15 SC votes
- Mr. Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (Somalia) - 116 GA votes, 8 SC votes
The candidates from France and Jordan were re-elected within the first round, while the judges from Brazil and the UK gained a majority during the first ballot.
After Somalia's candidate was elected, some delegations expressed concern that a ‘failed state' had received a majority vote in the Security Council.
Currently, all 15 Judges on the Court are men. Rosalyn Higgins, the first (and only) woman to be elected to the Court, completed her term on February 5.
The Court currently has fourteen cases that are still pending.
Related UNelections Monitor:
Issue 85 - November 12 - Five Judges Elected to International Court of Justice