Security Council Elects Five Judges to International Court of Justice after Five Rounds of Voting

Out of Nine Candidates, One Re-elected to Further Term of Office

The Security Council, meeting independently from but concurrently with the General Assembly today, elected five judges to the International Court of Justice beginning on 6 February 2024.

Of the nine candidates contesting the five seats, two are current members of the Court:  Kirill Gevorgian (Russian Federation) and Hilary Charlesworth (Australia).  The seven other candidates were Bogdan-Lucian Aurescu (Romania), Chaloka Beyani (Zambia), Ahmed Amin Fathalla (Egypt), Sarah Hull Cleveland (United States), Juan Manuel Gomez Robledo Verduzco (Mexico), Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua (Democratic Republic of the Congo) and Dire Tladi (South Africa).

After five rounds of voting, which were required as more than five candidates obtained the absolute majority of eight votes in the first four, the Council re‑elected Ms. Charlesworth (Australia), as well as elected Mr. Aurescu (Romania), Ms. Cleveland (United States), Mr. Verduzco (Mexico) and Mr. Tladi (South Africa).

Voting took place simultaneously in the Security Council and the General Assembly on 9 November.  Under the Statute of the International Court of Justice, a candidate obtaining an absolute majority of votes in both organs is considered elected.  In the Council, eight votes constitute an absolute majority, with no distinction between permanent and non-permanent members.  By contrast, all 193 Member States in the Assembly are electors and accordingly, for the purpose of today’s election, 97 votes constituted an absolute majority.  (For General Assembly results, see Press Release GA/12559.)

The Court’s composition on 6 February 2024 will be as follows (terms expire on 5 February of the year in parentheses):  Ronny Abraham (France) (2027); Dalveer Bhandari (India) (2027); Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade (Brazil) (2027); Xue Hanqin (China) (2030); Yuji Iwasawa (Japan) (2030); Georg Nolte (Germany) (2030); Nawaf Salam (Lebanon) (2027); Julia Sebutinde (Uganda) (2030); Peter Tomka (Slovakia) (2030); and Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (Somalia) (2027); Hilary Charlesworth (Australia) (2033); Bogdan-Lucian Aurescu (Romania) (2033); Sarah Hull Cleveland (United States) (2033); Juan Manuel Gomez Robledo Verduzco (Mexico) (2033); and Dire Tladi (South Africa) (2033).

Located in The Hague, Netherlands, the International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.  Composed of 15 judges, it adjudicates between States and its legal opinions are binding.  The Court also issues non-binding advisory opinions when requested to do so.

First Round of Voting

The results of the first round of voting were as follows:

Second Round of Voting

The results of the second round of voting were as follows:

Third Round of voting

The results of the third round of voting were as follows:

Fourth Round of Voting

The results of the fourth round of voting were as follows:

Fifth Round of Voting

The results of the fifth round of voting were as follows: