GENERAL ASSEMBLY ELECTS 14 JUDGES TO TRIBUNAL FOR FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
| Press Release GA/9859 |
Fifty-fifth General Assembly
Plenary
95th Meeting (AM)
GENERAL ASSEMBLY ELECTS 14 JUDGES TO TRIBUNAL FOR FORMER YUGOSLAVIA
The General Assembly, in a day-long meeting today, elected 14 judges to the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, in seven rounds of secret balloting.
The Tribunal was established by the Security Council in 1993 to prosecute serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia during the conflict there in the early 1990s. The
11 original judges were elected to four-year terms in 1997. The following year
3 judges were added for an additional Trial Chamber. The terms of all 14 judges are due to expire on 16 November.
Twenty-five candidates were nominated by their governments. Those elected today, who will begin their four-year terms on 17 November, are:
Carmel A. Agius (Malta, born 1945), member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.
Mohamed Amin El Abbassi Elmahdi (Egypt, 1936), President of the Conseil d’Etat since July 2000 and Head of the Supreme Administrative Court.
David Hunt (Australia, 1935), judge on the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia since 16 November 1998.
Claude Jorda (France, 1938), elected President of the International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia in 1999, he previously served as a judge on the Tribunal from 1994.
O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea, 1953), Senior Judge in the Taegu High Court in his country since 2000. From 1999 to 2000, he was Senior Judge in the Seoul District Court.
Liu Daqun (China, 1950), member of the Tribunal’s Trial Chamber II.
Richard George May (United Kingdom, 1938), the presiding judge in the Tribunal’s Appeals Chamber between 1999 and 2000, and elected to the Tribunal in 1997.
Theodor Meron (United States), Counsellor on International Law to his country’s Department of State and a leading scholar of international criminal law, international humanitarian law and human rights.
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia, 1948), judge of the Tribunal since 1997, Vice-President from November 1999.
Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie (Netherlands, 1947), a Justice of his country’s Supreme Court.
Fausto Pocar (Italy, 1939), founder of the University of Milan’s Postgraduate School of European Community Law and Economics and its Director until 2000.
Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica), judge on the Tribunal since November since 1998 and member of the Tribunal’s Working Group on Judicial Practices.
Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany, 1948), a judge at the Federal High Court in Karlsruhe until 2000 and working on behalf of the Council of Europe.
Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana, 1931), judge on the Tribunal since June
1997 and its Vice-President from November of that year to November 1999.
For complete curriculae vitae of the elected judges, see document A/55/773.
The judges were elected by an absolute majority of all Member States and non-member States maintaining permanent observer missions at United Nations Headquarters (the Holy See and Switzerland), whether or not they voted or were allowed to vote. The absolute majority, therefore, consisted of 96 votes.
Before the balloting today, the representative of Mexico said his delegation would not participate in the election of judges, as, in establishing the Tribunal, the Security Council had gone beyond its powers. He was convinced that, once it was operational, the International Criminal Court, the establishment of which followed the rules of international law, would render unnecessary the creation of new special tribunals.
The Permanent Observer of the Holy See also announced it would not participate in the voting process.
The representative of the Russian Federation said he was concerned about the problems facing the Tribunal, particularly the anti-Serbian bias of the prosecution and its attempts to place collective guilt on the whole nation. His country would, nevertheless, take part in the vote, hoping that a new core of judges would help to overcome the Tribunal’s bias and to speed up the conclusion of its work.
The Assembly’s President, Harri Holkeri (Finland), informed delegates that Afghanistan, Antigua and Barbuda, Cape Verde, Dominica and Madagascar had made the necessary payments to reduce their arrears below the amount specified in Article 19 of the Charter. [Article 19 stipulates that a Member State whose arrears in the payment of its financial contribution to the Organization equals or exceeds the amount of the contributions due from it for the preceding two full years, shall have no vote in the Assembly.]
(page 1b follows)
He also announced that on Friday, 16 March, at 3 p.m., the Assembly will meet to consider the Report of the International Atomic Energy Agency, and a note by the Secretary-General requesting the inclusion in the agenda of the current session of election of judges of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda.
The representatives of Madagascar, Burundi, Cyprus, Tunisia, Sweden, Colombia, Malaysia and Malawi also spoke.
Background
The fifty-fifth regular session of the General Assembly met this morning to elect judges of the International Tribunal for the Prosecution of Persons Responsible for Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law Committed in the Territory of the Former Yugoslavia since 1991, known as the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia.
The Assembly had before it a letter from the President of the Security Council (document A/55/771), dated 1 February, conveying to it a list of 26 nominations for the election of 14 judges. They are: Carmel A. Agius (Malta), Richard Allen Banda (Malawi), Mohamed Amin El Abbassi Elmahdi (Egypt), Mohammed El Habib Fassi Fihri (Morocco), David Hunt (Australia), Claude Jorda (France), O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea), Liu Daqun (China), Abderraouf Mahbouli (Tunisia), Richard George May (United Kingdom), Theodor Meron (United States), Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia), Rafael Nieto Navia (Colombia), Leopold Ntahompagaze (Burundi), Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie (Netherlands), Fausto Pocar (Italy), Jonah Rahetlah (Madagascar), Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica), Almiro Simões Rodrigues (Portugal), Miriam Defensor Santiago (Philippines), Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany), Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana), Demetrakis Stylianides (Cyprus), Krister Thelin (Sweden), Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine), and Karam Chand Vohrah (Malaysia).
The Permanent Representative of the Philippines informed the President of the Assembly on 9 February that his Government had decided to withdraw the candidature of Miriam Defensor Santiago.
The Assembly also had a memorandum by the Secretary-General (document A/55/769) regarding the elections, stating that the terms of office of the 11 judges elected in 1997 is due to expire on 16 November. By its resolution 1168 (1998), the Security Council decided to establish a third Trial Chamber. Three additional judges were, therefore, elected in 1998 and their terms are also due to expire on 16 November.
The memorandum further stipulates that in accordance with subparagraph 1 (d) of article 13 of the Statute of the International Tribunal, as amended by Council resolution 1329 (2000), candidates who receive an absolute majority of the votes of States Members of the United Nations and of the non-Member States maintaining permanent observer missions at United Nations Headquarters (the Holy See and Switzerland), shall be declared elected. According to consistent practice, “absolute majority” is taken to mean a majority of all electors, whether or not they vote or are allowed to vote. For the purpose of the present election,
96 votes constitute an absolute majority.
Each elector may vote in the first ballot for no more than 14 candidates. If, in the first ballot, the number of candidates obtaining an absolute majority is less than 14, a second ballot will be held, and balloting will continue in the same meeting until 14 candidates have obtained an absolute majority. In any second or subsequent ballot, each elector may vote for no more than 14 candidates less the number of candidates who have already obtained absolute majority.
If, in the first ballot, more than 14 candidates obtain an absolute majority of votes, a second ballot will be held on all candidates, and balloting will continue at the same meeting until 14 candidates obtain an absolute majority.
The Assembly, in documents A/55/773 and Add.1, also had the curricula vitae of the candidates.
Statements
GUSTAVO ALBIN (Mexico) said his delegation would once again not participate in the election of judges. His country had always supported investigating crimes against mankind and bringing to justice those responsible, but, in establishing the Tribunal, the Security Council had gone beyond its powers. An explicit provision giving the Council the authority to create jurisdictional organs of that nature was nowhere to be found in the Charter of the United Nations. He was convinced that, once it was operational, the International Criminal Court, the establishment of which followed the rules of international law, would render unnecessary the creation of new special tribunals. His country would, however, continue to pay its assessed financial contribution to the Tribunal.
Election of Judges
HARRI HOLKERI (Finland), Assembly President, said that the Holy See and Switzerland, observer States, would participate in the election in the same manner as Member States.
He noted that one of the 26 candidates on the list established by the Security Council had withdrawn her candidacy.
VLADIMIR TARABRIN (Russian Federation) said the Tribunal had been set up to operate in very specific circumstances. Today, despite very positive developments in the Balkan region, the Assembly was forced for the third time to elect judges and renew the Tribunal’s mandate for a further four years. A temporary body such as the Tribunal could not be supported either politically or financially in any way. It could not be justified.
The Russian Federation was concerned about the problems facing the Tribunal, particularly the prosecution, he said. Anti-Serbian bias and attempts to place collective guilt on the whole nation went against the Tribunal’s mandate. Substantial corrections must be made and efforts to hide some facts of the tragedy must stop.
He stressed the need to end the practice of secret memoranda between the Tribunal and the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and to publish the secret memorandum of 1996 between NATO and the Tribunal, which sanctioned the prosecution’s manhunt that had led to the killing of suspects and infringed on the rights of sovereign States. A new core of judges would help to overcome the Tribunal’s bias and speed up the conclusion of its work. The Russian Federation would, therefore, take part in the vote.
Archbishop RENATO RAFFAELE MARTINO, Observer of the Holy See, said the Holy See had decided to abstain from casting its vote on the individual candidates. In doing so, however, it renewed its confidence in the choices that would be made by the international community and expressed its best wishes to the judges who would be elected to serve the cause of justice and peace in the world.
The Assembly then began the voting process. The results of the first round of balloting were as follows:
Number of ballot papers: 169
Number of invalid ballots: 1
Abstentions: 0
Number of Members voting: 168
Number of votes obtained:
Carmel A. Agius (Malta) 118
Richard Allen Banda (Malawi) 48
Mohamed Amin El Abbassi Elmahdi (Egypt) 94
Mohammed El Habib Fassi Fihri (Morocco) 86
David Hunt (Australia) 122
Claude Jorda (France) 113
O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea) 109
Liu Daqun (China) 116
Abderraouf Mahbouli (Tunisia) 62
Richard George May (United Kingdom) 115
Theodor Meron (United States) 119
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia) 72
Rafael Nieto Navia (Colombia) 88
Leopold Ntahompagaze (Burundi) 12
Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie (Netherlands) 114
Fausto Pocar (Italy) 130
Jonah Rahetlah (Madagascar) 32
Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica) 120
Almiro Simões Rodrigues (Portugal) 84
Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany) 118
Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana) 105
Demetrakis Stylianides (Cyprus) 49
Krister Thelin (Sweden) 65
Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine) 94
Karam Chand Vohrah (Malaysia) 84
Having obtained the required majority of 96 votes, the following 12 judges were elected: Carmel A. Agius (Malta), David Hunt (Australia), Claude Jorda (France), O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea), Liu Daqun (China), Richard George May (United Kingdom), Theodor Meron (United States), Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie (Netherlands), Fausto Pocar (Italy), Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica), Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany), and Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana).
Second Ballot
Having elected 12 judges, the Assembly went to a second ballot to fill the two remaining positions. The second ballot was unrestricted.
Mr. HOLKERI (Finland), Assembly President, then suspended the meeting for
15 minutes as the votes were counted.
The results were as follows:
Number of ballot papers: 169
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Abstentions: 1
Number of Members voting: 168
Number of votes obtained:
Mohamed Amin El Abbassi Elmahdi (Egypt) 84
Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine) 68
Almiro Simões Rodrigues (Portugal) 37
Rafael Nieto Navia (Colombia) 34
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia) 24
Karam Chand Vohrah (Malaysia) 21
Krister Thelin (Sweden) 14
Richard Allen Banda (Malawi) 7
Demetrakis Stylianides (Cyprus) 4
Abderraouf Mahbouli (Tunisia) 3
Leopold Ntahompagaze (Burundi) 3
Jonah Rahetlah (Madagascar) 1
The PRESIDENT said that since the required majority had not been obtained, the Assembly would undertake another unrestricted ballot.
He then suspended the meeting until 3 p.m.
When the Assembly reconvened, JEAN DELACROIX BAKONIARIVO (Madagascar) announced that his country withdrew the candidacy of Jonah Rahetlah.
JEAN LUC NDIZEYE (Burundi) withdrew the candidacy of Leopold Ntahompagaze.
DEMETRIS HADJIARGYROU (Cyprus) announced that Demetrakis Stylianides had decided to withdraw his name.
RADHIA ACHOURI (Tunisia) withdrew the candidacy of Abderraouf Mahbouli.
The results of the third round of balloting, for two seats, were as follows:
Number of ballot papers: 165
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Abstentions: 2
Number of Members voting: 163
Number of votes obtained:
Richard Allen Banda (Malawi) 5
Mohamed Amin El Abbassi Elmahdi (Egypt) 88
Mohammed El Habib Fassi Fihri (Morocco) 22
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia) 33
Rafael Nieto Navia (Colombia) 28
Almiro Simões Rodrigues (Portugal) 51
Krister Thelin (Sweden) 14
Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine) 64
Karam Chand Vohrah (Malaysia) 12
Since no candidate had obtained the required absolute majority of 96 votes, the Assembly proceeded to a fourth round of balloting.
PER NORSTRÖM (Sweden) withdrew the candidacy of Krister Thelin.
ALFONSO VALDIVIESO (Colombia) withdrew the candidacy of Rafael Nieto Navia.
SYED HASRIN TENGKU HUSSIN (Malaysia) withdrew the candidacy of Karam Chand Vohrah.
Mr. HOLKERI (Finland), Assembly President, then suspended the meeting for
10 minutes.
When the meeting resumed, the Assembly voted a fourth time. The results of the fourth round of balloting was as follows:
Number of ballot papers: 163
Number of invalid ballots: 0
Abstentions: 2
Number of Members voting: 161
Number of votes obtained:
Mohamed Amin El Abbassi Elmahdi (Egypt) 105
Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine) 68
Almiro Simoes Rodrigues (Portugal) 58
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia) 50
Mohamed El Habib Fassi Fihri (Morocco) 31
Richard Allen Banda (Malawi) 4
Mr. Elmahdi (Egypt) was thus elected, having obtained a total above the absolute majority of 96.
Mr. HOLKERI (Finland), Assembly President, then announced there would be a fifth round of balloting to fill the remaining vacant position.
YUSUF M. JUWAYEYI (Malawi) withdrew the candidacy of Richard Allen Banda.
The results of the fifth round of balloting, for one seat, were as follows:
Number of ballot papers: 161
Number of invalid ballots: 8
Abstentions: 2
Number of Members voting: 151
Number of votes obtained:
Mohammed El Habib Fassi Fihri (Morocco) 16
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia) 56
Almiro Simões Rodrigues (Portugal) 29
Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine) 50
Since none of the candidates had acquired the absolute majority of 96 votes, the Assembly proceeded to a sixth round of balloting.
A sixth round of balloting was held, with the following result:
Number of ballot papers: 156
Number of invalid ballots: 3
Absentions: 2
Number of Members voting: 151
Number of votes obtained:
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia) 75
Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine) 50
Mohamed El Habib Fassi Fihri (Morocco) 13
Almiro Simoes Rodrigues (Portugal) 13
NUNO BRITO (Portugal) announced that his country withdrew the candidacy of Almiro Simoes Rodrigues.
The results of the seventh round of balloting, for one seat, were as follows:
Number of ballot papers: 153
Number of invalid ballots: 1
Abstentions: 2
Number of Members voting: 150
Number of votes obtained:
Mohammed El Habib Fassi Fihri (Morocco) 13
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia) 103
Volodymyr Vassylenko (Ukraine) 34
Florence Ndepele Mwachande Mumba (Zambia), having obtained the absolute majority of 96 votes, was elected as judge of the Tribunal.
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