GENERAL ASSEMBLY, VOTING CONCURRENTLY WITH SECURITY COUNCIL, FILLS FIVE VACANCIES ON INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

Press Release
GA/9649

GENERAL ASSEMBLY, VOTING CONCURRENTLY WITH SECURITY COUNCIL, FILLS FIVE VACANCIES ON INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

Election Requires Two Ballots; Re-elects Judges from France United Kingdom, Venezuela, Madagascar; New Judge from Jordan

The General Assembly this morning elected five Judges to the International Court of Justice in two rounds of balloting, filling vacancies for terms of office that will expire on 5 February 2000.

Judges Gilbert Guillaume (France); Rosalyn Higgins (United Kingdom); Gonzalo Parra-Anguren (Venezuela); and Raymond Ranjeva (Madagascar) were re-elected to their posts. Judge Awn Shawkat Al- Khasawneh (Jordan) will sit at the Court for the first time. All five will begin their new nine-year terms on 6 February 2000.

In the first ballot, more than five candidates obtained an absolute majority. While that situation had occurred in the Security Council on previous occasions, it was unprecedented in the Assembly. Following previous practice by the Council, the Assembly held a new vote on all six candidates with the Assembly President making no notification to the President of the Council until the required number of candidates, and no more, had obtained an absolute majority in the Assembly.

Prior to the balloting, the Assembly President, Theo-Ben Gurirab (Namibia), informed the Assembly that the Secretariat had received a note verbale from the Permanent Mission of the Democratic Republic of the Congo that the national group of that country had decided to withdraw the candidature of Mikuin-Leliel Balanda. Since that was the only national group that had nominated Mr. Balanda, his name was deleted as a candidate.

The election in the Assembly this morning was held concurrently with one in the Security Council. The Council required one round of secret balloting, by the end of which the same five judges had obtained the required absolute majority.

The International Court of Justice, with its headquarters in The Hague, Netherlands, consists of 15 Judges who are elected, regardless of their nationality, from among persons of high moral character, who

General Assembly Plenary - 1a - Press Release GA/9649 45th Meeting (AM) 3 November 1999

possess qualifications required in their respective countries for appointment to the highest judicial offices, or are juriconsults of recognized competence in international law. The Court is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

As of 5 February 2000, the remaining 10 Judges at the Court whose terms of office are still valid (with the dates that their terms expire) will be: Mohammed Bedjaoui (Algeria) (2006); Carl-August Fleischhauer (Germany) (2003); Géza Herczegh (Hungary) (2003); Shi Jiuyong (China) (2003); Pieter H. Kooijmans (Netherlands) (2006); Abdul G. Koroma (Sierra Leone) (2003); Shigeru Oda (Japan) (2003); José Francisco Rezek (Brazil) (2006); Stephen M. Schwebel (United States) (2006); Vladlen S. Vereshchetin (Russian Federation) (2006). The terms of the judges elected today will expire in 2009.

The General Assembly will meet tomorrow at 10 a.m. to consider the question of the Falkland Islands (Malvinas), the Report of the Committee on Relations with the Host Country and the Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Assembly Work Programme

The General Assembly met this morning, concurrently with the Security Council, to elect five judges to the International Court of Justice for a period of nine years beginning 6 February 2000 in conformity with Articles 4 and 13 of the Statute of the Court. The terms of office of the following five members of the Court will expire on 5 February 2000: Gilbert Guillaume (France); Rosalyn Higgins (United Kingdom); Gonzalo Parra-Aranguren (Venezuela); Raymond Ranjeva (Madagascar); and Christopher G. Weeramantry (Sri Lanka).

The International Court of Justice, based at The Hague, the Netherlands, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It settles legal disputes between States Parties and gives advisory opinions to the Organization and its specialized agencies. The Court is open to all parties to its Statute, which automatically includes all Members of the United Nations. A State which is not a Member may become a party to the Statute, as is the case for Switzerland [By Assembly resolution 264 (III) of 8 October 1948, Switzerland, which is party to the Statute of the International Court of Justice but not a Member State of the United Nations, will participate in the Assembly in electing members of the Court in the same manner as United Nations Members].

The Court is not open to private individuals. Its jurisdiction covers all questions referred to it by States, and all matters provided for in the Charter or in treaties or conventions in force. It consists of 15 judges elected by the Assembly and the Council, voting independently. They are chosen on the basis of their qualifications, not on the basis of nationality, and care is taken to ensure that the principle legal systems of the world are represented. No two judges can be from the same country. Judges serve for a nine-year term and may be re-elected. They cannot engage in any other occupation during their term of office.

Candidates for election as judges are: Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh (Jordan) and Mikuin-Leliel Balanda (Democratic Republic of the Congo). Candidates for re- election are: Mr. Guillaume; Ms. Higgins; Mr. Parra-Aranguren; Mr. Ranjeva; and Mr. Weeramantry. (See document A/54/306/Rev.1-S/1999/940/Rev.1.)

Article 4 of the Statute of the Court provides that members of the Court shall be elected by the General Assembly and the Security Council from a list of persons nominated by the national groups in the Permanent Court of Arbitration.

The curricula vitae of the candidates nominated by the national groups are contained in a note by the Secretary-General (document A/54/307-S/1999/941).

Mr. Al-Khasawneh, former Adviser to the King and Adviser of the State on International Law with the rank of Minister, and Chief of the Royal Hashemite Court, was nominated by the national group of Austria, Canada, Hungary, Italy, Jordan, Norway and Sweden.

Mr. Balanda, Professor in the Faculty of the University of Kinshasa and Senior President of the Supreme Court of Justice, was nominated by the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

Mr. Guillaume, currently serving as a Judge of the International Court of Justice, was nominated by the national group of: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, China, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Russian Federation, Senegal, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay, and Venezuela.

Ms. Higgins, currently serving as a Judge of the Court, was nominated by the national group of Australia, Austria, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Japan, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Panama, Russian Federation, Slovakia, Sweden, Switzerland, United Kingdom, United States, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Mr. Parra-Aranguren, currently serving as a Judge of the Court, was nominated by the national groups of Canada, Denmark, Ecuador, El Salvador, France, Germany, Jordan, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Panama, Slovakia, Sweden, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Mr. Ranjeva, currently serving as a Judge of the Court, was nominated by the national groups of Argentina, Australia, Belgium, Denmark, and Ecuador, El Salvador, Finland, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Liechtenstein, Luxembourg, Madagascar, Norway, Panama, Slovakia, Spain, Switzerland, Uruguay and Venezuela.

Mr. Weeramantry, currently the Vice-President of the Court, was nominated by the national groups of Australia, Belgium, Finland, Italy, New Zealand, Nigeria, Spain and Sri Lanka.

Judges whose terms of office have not expired and who remain on the International Court of Justice are: Stephen M. Schwebel (United States), President; Shigeru Oda (Japan); Mohammed Bedjaoui (Algeria); Geza Herczegh (Hungary); Shi Jiuyong (China); Carl-August Fleischhauer (Germany); Abdul G. Koroma (Sierra Leone); Vladlen S. Vereshchetin (Russian Federation); Pieter H. Kooijimans (Netherlands); and Francisco Rezek (Brazil). Their terms of office will expire on 5 February 2003 and 2006.

A memorandum by the Secretary-General (document A/54/305) describes the procedure for the election of judges in the Assembly and the Council.

The Secretary-General states that on the date of the election, those candidates who obtain an absolute majority of votes both in the Assembly and in the Council will be considered elected. The memorandum points out that the "consistent practice of the United Nations had been to interpret the words 'absolute majority' as meaning a majority of all electors, whether or not they vote or are allowed to vote”. The electors in the Assembly are all 188 Member States, together with the one non-member State which is a party to the Statute. Accordingly 95 votes constitutes an absolute majority in the Assembly for the purpose of this election. In the Council, eight votes constitute an absolute majority and no distinction is made between permanent and non-permanent members.

Only those candidates whose names appear on the ballot papers are eligible for election, states the memorandum. If in the first ballot in either the Assembly or the Council the number of candidates obtaining an absolute majority is less than five, a second ballot will be held. Balloting will continue until five candidates have obtained the required majority. Only when five candidates have obtained the required majority in one of the organs does the President of that body notify the President of the other as to the names of the five candidates. The President of the latter should not communicate such names to the members of that organ until that organ has itself given five candidates the required majority of votes.

If, upon comparison of the respective lists of names that have obtained an absolute majority in the two organs, fewer than five candidates have been elected, the memorandum continues, the Assembly and the Council will proceed, again independently of each other, "in a second meeting and, if necessary, a third meeting to elect candidates by further ballots for seats remaining vacant". The results will again be compared after the required number of candidates have obtained an absolute majority in each organ.

If, however, after the third meeting, one or more seats still have to be filled, the Assembly and the Council may at any time, at each other's request, form a joint conference consisting of six members from each organ. That conference may, by an absolute majority, agree on one name for each seat still vacant and submit that name for the respective acceptance of both organs. The memorandum concludes: "If the joint conference is satisfied that it will not be successful in procuring an election, those members of the Court who have already been elected shall, within a period to be fixed by the Council, proceed to fill the vacant seat or seats by selection from among those candidates who have obtained votes either in the Assembly or in the Council". In the event of an equality of votes among the judges, the eldest shall have a casting vote.

Election of Judges to International Court of Justice

Prior to the balloting the President of the Assembly, Theo-Ben Gurirab (Namibia) announced that a note verbale from the Permanent Missing of the Democratic Republic of the Congo informed the Assembly that the national group of that country had withdrawn the candidative of Mikuin-Leliel Blanda.

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

Number of ballot papers: 176 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 176 Abstentions: 0 Number of Members voting: 176 Required majority: 95

Number of votes obtained:

Awn Shawkat AL-KHASAWNEH 132 Gilbert GUILLAUME 152 Rosalyn HIGGINS 157 Gonzalo PARRA-ARANGUREN 156 Raymond RANJEVA 155 Christopher G. WEERAMANTRY 98

The Assembly PRESIDENT noted that more than five candidates had obtained an absolute majority, a situation that had never occurred before in the General Assembly. He drew attention to paragraph 14 of the memorandum of the Secretary- General (document A/54/305), which States that cases had arisen in the Council where more than the required number of candidates had obtained an absolute majority on the same ballot. The Council had held a new vote on all the candidates and its President had notified the General Assembly President only when the required number had obtained an absolute majority.

The Assembly then proceeded to a second round of voting. The results of the second round of balloting were as follows:

Number of ballot papers: 177 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 177 Abstentions: 0 Number of Members voting: 177 Required majority: 95

Number of votes obtained:

Awn Shawkat AL-KHASAWNEH 144 Gilbert GUILLAUME 152 Rosalyn HIGGINS 162 Gonzalo PARRA-ARANGUREN 155 Raymond RANJEVA 159 Christopher G. WEERAMANTRY 76

The Assembly PRESIDENT, informed Members that based on the second round of voting the following five candidates had obtained an absolute majority in the General Assembly: Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh (Jordan), Gilbert Guillaume (France), Rosalyn Higgins (United Kingdom), Gonzalo Parra-Aranguren (Venezuela) and Raymond Ranjeva (Madagascar). He said that he had commicated those results to the President of the Security Council.

The PRESIDENT said that he had received a letter from the President of the Security Council informing him that Mr. Al-Khasawneh, Mr. Guillaume, Ms. Higgins, Mr. Parra-Aranguren and Mr. Ranjeva had obtained an absolute majority in the voting conducted by the Security Council.

Since the same five candidates had obtained an absolute majority in both the General Assembly and the Security Council, Mr. Al-Khsawneh was elected, and Mr. Guillaume, Ms. Higgins, Mr. Parra-Aranguren and Mr. Ranjeva were re-elected to serve nine-year terms as Judges on the International Court of Justice beginning 6 February 2000.

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