MEETING OF STATES PARTIES TO LAW OF SEA CONVENTION ELECTS SEVEN NEW JUDGES TO INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL
| Press Release SEA/1827 |
Meeting of States Parties
to Law of Sea Convention
93rd Meeting (AM & PM)
MEETING OF STATES PARTIES TO LAW OF SEA CONVENTION ELECTS
SEVEN NEW JUDGES TO INTERNATIONAL TRIBUNAL
The Fifteenth Meeting of States Parties to the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea today elected, in five rounds of secret balloting, seven new judges to the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea for nine-year terms, beginning 1 October.
The International Tribunal, established by the Convention, has exclusive jurisdiction in disputes concerning deep seabed mineral resources, provides advisory opinions when called upon to do so, and may be called upon to prescribe injunctive relief or provisional measures before a case or dispute is to be decided on the merits. The Tribunal is seated in Hamburg, Germany, and is composed of 21 members. Every three years, seven new members must be elected.
In the first round of balloting for the triennial election, L. Dolliver M. Nelson (Grenada), Shunji Yanai (Japan), Choon-HoPark (Republic of Korea) and Helmut Tuerk (Austria) were elected as members (judges) of the Tribunal.
No members were elected in a second and third round of balloting. James L. Kateka (United Republic of Tanzania) and Albertus Jacobus Hoffman (South Africa) were elected in the fourth round, and Stanislaw Pawlak (Poland) in the fifth and final round of balloting.
At the outset of the meeting, the States Parties adopted a draft resolution by which the Fifteenth Meeting would approve the report of its Credentials Committee (document SPLOS/131). The report was introduced by the Committee’s Chairperson, Nyirinkindi Rosette Katungye (Uganda). The Credentials Committee consisted of Bahamas, Canada, CzechRepublic, Greece, Grenada, Indonesia, Malaysia, South Africa and Uganda.
The Fifteenth Meeting of States Parties will convene again tomorrow, 23 June, at 10 a.m. to conclude its work.
Background
The Seventeenth Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea met this morning to hold its triennial election of seven members for new terms to the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea.
The International Tribunal, established by the Convention, is one of the forums to which parties may submit disputes. It has exclusive jurisdiction in disputes concerning deep seabed mineral resources, provides advisory opinions when called upon to do so, and may be asked to prescribe injunctive relief or provisional measures before a case or dispute is decided on the merits. The Tribunal is seated in Hamburg, Germany and is composed of 21 members (judges) elected to nine-year terms.
In accordance with article 5, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the Tribunal, its members are elected for nine years and may be re-elected. A list of all the candidates, with an indication of the States which have nominated them, was circulated to States parties in document SPLOS/124 and Add.1-2. The curricula vitae of the candidates are contained in document SPLOS/125. Under the Rules of the Tribunal, the members’ terms of office start on 1 October following the date of the election.
The candidates are: David Heywood Anderson (United Kingdom), Boualem Bouguetaia (Algeria), Mohammed Alhaj Hmoud (Iraq), Albertus Jacobus Hoffmann (South Africa), James L. Kateka (United Republic of Tanzania), Raphaël Théophile Keita (Mali), Mohamed Mouldi Marsit (Tunisia), L. Dolliver M. Nelson (Grenada), Choon-Ho Park (Republic of Korea), Stanislaw Pawlak (Poland), Helmut Tuerk (Austria), Budislav Vukas (Croatia) and Shunji Yanai (Japan).
First Round of Voting
Number of ballots:
147
Number of invalid ballots:
27
Number of valid ballots:
120
Number of abstentions:
0
Number of Member States voting:
120
Majority required:
80
Number of votes obtained:
L. Dolliver M. Nelson (Grenada)
113
Shunji Yanai (Japan)
113
Choon-HoPark (Republic of Korea)
101
Helmut Tuerk (Austria)
85
James L. Kateka (United Republic of Tanzania)
73
Stanislaw Pawlak (Poland)
60
Mohamed Mouldi Marsit (Tunisia)
57
Budislav Vukas (Croatia)
56
Albertus Jacobus Hoffmann (South Africa)
55
Boualem Bouguetaia (Algeria)
44
David Heywood Anderson (United Kingdom)
33
Mohammed Alhaj Hmoud (Iraq)
14
Raphaël Théophile Keita (Mali)
8
As Mr. Nelson (Grenada), Mr. Yanai (Japan), Mr. Park (Republic of Korea) and Mr. Tuerk (Austria) achieved the required majority, they were elected as member of the Tribunal.
A second round of voting was required to elect the remaining three members of the Tribunal.
In an ensuing order-debate, the representatives of Guinea Bissau, Sierra Leone and Mali, noting that no candidate from Africa had been elected, asked for clarification regarding a “gentleman’s agreement” on geographical representation.
The President, ANDREAS D. MAVROYIANNIS (Cyprus), said that two members of the African Group and one member of the Eastern European Group should be elected. Only candidates from those regions would be on the ballot for the second round.
Second Round of Voting
Number of ballots:
147
Number of invalid ballots:
0
Number of valid ballots:
147
Number of abstentions:
0
Number of Member States voting:
147
Majority required:
98
Number of votes obtained:
Albertus Jacobus Hoffmann (South Africa)
81
James L. Kateka (United Republic of Tanzania)
79
Stanislaw Pawlak (Poland)
73
Budislav Vukas (Croatia)
69
Boualem Bouguetaia (Algeria)
61
Mohamed Mouldi Marsit (Tunisia)
54
Raphaël Théophile Keita (Mali)
11
Since none of the candidates had received the required number of votes, a third round of balloting was necessary.
The representative of Mali announced the withdrawal of its candidate, Mr. Keita, thanking those countries that had supported his candidacy.
Third Round of Voting
Number of ballots:
146
Number of invalid ballots:
0
Number of valid ballots:
146
Number of abstentions:
0
Number of Member States voting:
146
Majority required:
98
Number of votes obtained:
Albertus Jacobus Hoffmann (South Africa)
96
James L. Kateka (United Republic of Tanzania)
93
Stanislaw Pawlak (Poland)
82
Budislav Vukas (Croatia)
61
Boualem Bouguetaia (Algeria)
59
Mohamed Mouldi Marsit (Tunisia)
36
Since no candidate had received the required number of votes, a fourth round of balloting was necessary.
Fourth Round of Voting
Number of ballots:
145
Number of invalid ballots:
0
Number of valid ballots
145
Number of abstentions:
0
Number of Member States voting:
145
Majority required:
97
Number of votes obtained:
James L. Kateka (United Republic of Tanzania)
111
Albertus Jacobus Hoffmann (South Africa)
108
Stanislaw Pawlak (Poland)
92
Budislav Vukas (Croatia)
50
Boualem Bouguetaia (Algeria)
44
Mohamed Mouldi Marsit (Tunisia)
19
Mr. Kateka (United Republic of Tanzania) and Mr. Hoffman (South Africa) were elected as members of the Tribunal. Thus, the requirement of electing two members from the African Group was fulfilled.
The representative of Croatia thanked delegations for supporting the Croatian candidate. He noted that 27 ballots were invalid in the first round of voting, which was almost 20 per cent of the total ballots. Such a high number of invalid ballots was a matter of grave concern, suggesting that the voting process should be re-examined for future elections. He then said that Croatia would withdraw its candidate, and congratulated the candidate from Poland, who was the last remaining candidate from Eastern Europe.
Since the remaining candidate from the Group of Eastern European had to be elected by the required majority of votes, a fifth round of balloting was necessary.
Fifth Round of Voting
Number of ballots:
133
Number of invalid ballots:
0
Number of valid ballots:
133
Number of abstentions:
5
Number of Member States voting:
128
Majority required:
86
Mr. Stanislaw Pawlak (Poland) received 128 votes and was the final member to be elected to the Tribunal.
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