Fifty-ninth General Assembly

Plenary

57^th Meeting (AM & PM)

GENERAL ASSEMBLY SUSPENDS ELECTION OF JUDGES FOR YUGOSLAV TRIBUNAL,

 

FOLLOWING FOUR INCONCLUSIVE ROUNDS OF VOTING

After four inconclusive rounds of voting today, the General Assembly decided to continue the process to elect judges for the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia (ICTY) at 10 a.m. tomorrow, 19 November.

The Security Council established the Tribunal, located at The Hague, Netherlands, in early 1993 to prosecute those responsible for serious violations of international humanitarian law committed in the territory of the former Yugoslavia since 1991.  It was the first world court established by the United Nations for the prosecution of war crimes.  According to its Statute, individuals may be indicted for crimes against humanity, grave breaches of the 1949 Geneva Conventions, violations of the laws of war and crimes of genocide.

Before the Assembly was a memorandum by the Secretary-General on the election of judges, containing the list of candidates and the procedure for the election of ad litem judges (document A/59/438).  According to the memorandum, elections for the permanent judges for the Tribunal last took place in 2001.  The terms of office, of the 14 permanent judges, elected at that time, are due to expire on 16 November 2005.

Also before the Assembly was a letter dated 14 October 2004 from the President of the Security Council (document A/59/437) forwarding the names of the 22 candidates who, taking due account of the adequate representation of the principal legal systems of the world and the importance of equitable geographical distribution, were selected from nominations made by Member States and observers.

When it meets tomorrow, the Assembly is also expected to hold a debate on its agenda item concerning the “declaration by the United Nations of 8 and 9 May as days of remembrance”.

Results of Voting

Prior to the start of voting, CELESTINO MIGLIORE, Observer of the Holy See, said his delegation had decided to abstain from selecting the candidates for judges for the ICTY, but he wanted to take the opportunity to state his confidence in the judges selected and wished them well in their efforts to promote justice, reconciliation and peace for the peoples of the former Yugoslavia.

Assembly President Jean Ping (Gabon) suspended the meeting for 60 minutes to prepare the ballot papers.

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

Number of ballot papers:	190
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	190
Abstentions:	2
Number of members voting:	188
Required majority	97
Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany)	157
Fausto Pocar (Italy)	155
Liu Daqun (China)	151
Christine Van Den Wyngaert (Belgium)	151
Theodor Meron (United States)	148
Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica)	146
Iain Bonomy (United Kingdom)	144
Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana)	140
O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea)	139
Carmel A. Agius (Malta)	138
Kevin Horace Parker (Australia)	136
Jean-Claude Antonetti (France)	135
Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie (Netherlands)	131
Volodymyr A. Vassylenko (Ukraine)	121
Bakone Melema Moloto (South Africa)	115
Mohamed Amin El-Abbassi El Mahdi (Egypt)	110
Vonimbolana Rasoazanany (Madagascar)	98
Prisca Matimba Nyambe (Zambia)	81
Sharada Prasad Pandit (Nepal)	44
Elhagi Abdulkader Emberesh (Libya)	40
Yenyi Olungu (Democratic Republic of the Congo)	32
Rigoberto Espinal Irias (Honduras)	31

Following the first round of voting, 17 candidates -- more than the required number to fill the 14 vacancies -- obtained an absolute majority.  The Assembly then proceeded to a second ballot.

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

Number of ballot papers:	188
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	188
Abstentions:	2
Number of members voting:	186
Required majority:	97
Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany)	159
Fausto Pocar (Italy)	151
Liu Daqun (China)	150
Christine Van Den Wyngaert (Belgium)	148
Carmel A. Agius (Malta)	145
Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica)	142
O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea)	142
Theodor Meron (United States)	141
Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana)	141
Iain Bonomy (United Kingdom)	141
Jean-Claude Antonetti (France)	135
Kevin Horace Parker (Australia)	132
Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie (Netherlands)	132
Volodymyr A. Vassylenko (Ukraine)	124
Bakone Melema Moloto (South Africa)	116
Mohamed Amin El-Abbassi El Mahdi (Egypt)	106
Vonimbolana Rasoazanany (Madagascar)	85
Prisca Matimba Nyambe (Zambia)	52
Elhagi Abdulkader Emberesh (Libya)	29
Yenyi Olungu (Democratic Republic of the Congo)	22
Rigoberto Espinal Irias (Honduras)	22
Sharada Prasad Pandit (Nepal)	20

Following the second round of voting, 16 candidates -- more than the required number to fill the 14 vacancies -- obtained an absolute majority.  The Assembly then proceeded to a third ballot.

The representative of Libya withdrew his country’s candidate, Elhagi Abdulkader Emberesh, from consideration.  He also expressed gratitude for the support of his candidate.

The representative of Honduras withdrew his country’s candidate, Rigoberto Espinal Irias, from consideration.  He also thanked the delegations, which had supported his nation’s candidacy, and suggested a need to review the electoral process in the Tribunal’s Statute.

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

Number of ballot papers:	191
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	191
Abstentions:	2
Number of members voting:	189
Required majority	97
Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany)	163
Liu Daqun (China)	160
Fausto Pocar (Italy)	157
Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica)	156
Theodor Meron (United States)	152
Iain Bonomy (United Kingdom)	151
Christine Van Den Wyngaert (Belgium)	151
O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea)	149
Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana)	149
Carmel A. Agius (Malta)	148
Kevin Horace Parker (Australia)	147
Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie (Netherlands)	141
Jean-Claude Antonetti (France)	140
Volodymyr A. Vassylenko (Ukraine)	123
Bakone Melema Moloto (South Africa)	112
Mohamed Amin El-Abbassi El Mahdi (Egypt)	92
Vonimbolana Rasoazanany (Madagascar)	72
Prisca Matimba Nyambe (Zambia)	44
Sharada Prasad Pandit (Nepal)	21
Yenyi Olungu (Democratic Republic of the Congo)	20

Following the third round of voting, 15 candidates -- more than the required number to fill the 14 vacancies -- obtained an absolute majority.  The Assembly then proceeded to a fourth ballot.

The representative of the Democratic Republic of the Congo withdrew his country’s candidate, Yenyi Olungu, from consideration.  He wished to thank those delegations that supported his nation’s candidacy.

The representative of Zambia withdrew his country’s candidate, Prisca Matimba Nyambe, from consideration.  He also expressed gratitude and thanks.

The representative of Nepal withdrew his country’s candidate, Sharada Prasad Pandit, from consideration.  He also expressed gratitude to delegations for their support.

The representative of Madagascar withdrew his country’s candidate, Vonimbolana Rasoazanany, from consideration.  He also wished to thank all delegations who had supported his nation’s candidate.

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

Number of ballot papers:	190
Number of invalid ballots:	0
Number of valid ballots:	190
Abstentions:	2
Number of members voting:	188
Required majority	97
Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica)	161
Wolfgang Schomburg (Germany)	156
Liu Daqun (China)	155
Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana)	154
Christine Van Den Wyngaert (Belgium)	153
Fausto Pocar (Italy)	152
Carmel A. Agius (Malta)	147
O-gon Kwon (Republic of Korea)	144
Theodor Meron (United States)	143
Iain Bonomy (United Kingdom)	141
Kevin Horace Parker (Australia)	138
Jean-Claude Antonetti (France)	132
Alphonsus Martinus Maria Orie (Netherlands)	130
Volodymyr A. Vassylenko (Ukraine)	117
Bakone Melema Moloto (South Africa)	113
Mohamed Amin El-Abbassi El Mahdi (Egypt)	91

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