Shibbir Ahmed, New York — The United Nations General Assembly and Security Council are voting Tuesday to elect five judges to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN’s principal judicial body. Nine candidates are competing for the five available seats.
The two UN bodies are conducting separate but simultaneous elections. To be elected, a candidate must secure an absolute majority in both the General Assembly and the Security Council. That requires at least 97 votes in the 193-member General Assembly and eight votes in the 15-member Security Council.
The nine candidates are Dapo Akande of the United Kingdom, François Alabrune of France, Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Charles Chernor Jalloh of Sierra Leone, Rena Lee of Singapore, Phoebe Okowa of Kenya, Jin-Hyun Paik of South Korea, and Marcelo Vázquez-Bermúdez of Ecuador.
The ICJ is composed of 15 judges who serve nine-year terms. Five seats are contested every three years. The judges elected in the current round are scheduled to begin their terms on February 6, 2027.
The election process gives equal institutional weight to the General Assembly and the Security Council. A candidate must obtain the required majority in both bodies to be elected. Support in only one body is not sufficient to secure a seat on the Court.
The ICJ plays a central role in resolving legal disputes between states and interpreting international law. The election of five new judges is therefore significant for the future work and composition of the United Nations’ principal judicial institution.
