General Assembly Elects Filippo Grandi of Italy as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, Fills Vacancies in Tribunals

The General Assembly today elected the Secretary-General’s proposed candidate, Filippo Grandi (Italy), as United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), while filling vacancies in the United Nations tribunals that address internal grievances and disciplinary matters.

Mr. Grandi, who was confirmed for a five-year term beginning on 1 January 2016, formerly served as Commissioner-General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).  He will replace Antonio Guterres (Portugal) whose term expires on 31 December 2015.

Member States welcomed the appointment, with the representative of the European Union saying that Mr. Grandi’s “vast experience” on issues of displacement would be an invaluable asset for the Office of the High Commissioner.  With 60 million people forcibly displaced world-wide due to simultaneous and large-scale humanitarian crises, the Assembly had assigned Mr. Grandi an enormous task of giving a voice to the most vulnerable.

The representative of Qatar, speaking on behalf of the Gulf Cooperation Council, said Mr. Grandi had shown a high level of responsibility at a time when there were a vast number of refugees in the world, particularly from Syria.  The States she represented had cooperated with Mr. Grandi during his tenure as head of UNRWA, which put him in an excellent position at a time when the flow of refugees had become a global challenge.

The representative of China, speaking on behalf of the Asia-Pacific States, said given the current conflicts in the world, the international community would greatly benefit from Mr. Grandi’s knowledge of refugee situations.

The Assembly then proceeded to fill three vacancies in the United Nations Dispute Tribunal and four vacancies in the United Nations Appeals Tribunal, two bodies formed in 2009 to bolster the Organization’s system for dealing with internal grievances and disciplinary cases.

First it elected judges to the Dispute Tribunal.  Located in Geneva, Nairobi and New York, the Tribunal may also decide to hold sessions at other duty stations.  It operates on a full-time basis and comprises five permanent, professional judges — three full-time and two half-time — with one full-time judge in Geneva, Nairobi and New York, respectively.

 The judges are elected from a pool of candidates submitted by the Internal Justice Council, a body whose main task is to provide its views and recommendations to the Assembly on candidates.

Winning the required majority of votes, Teresa Maria da Silva Bravo (Portugal) was appointed as full-time judge in Geneva; Agnieszka Klonowiecka-Milart (Poland) as full-time judge in Nairobi; and Alexander Hunter Jr. (United States) as half-time judge.  All three will hold seven–year terms beginning on 1 July 2016.  They will replace Thomas Laker (Germany), a full-time judge in Geneva; Vinod Boolell (Mauritius), a full-time judge in Nairobi; and Coral Shaw (New Zealand), a half-time judge, whose terms will expire on 30 June 2016.

The results of the voting were as follows:

The Assembly also elected four judges from a pool of eight candidates recommended by the Internal Justice Council to the Appeals Tribunal for terms of seven years, beginning 1 July 2016.

The Appeals Tribunal is an appellate court that reviews appeals against judgements rendered by the Dispute Tribunal.  It comprises seven judges whose judgements are final and binding on the parties.  The court holds sessions in New York, Geneva or Nairobi, as required by caseload.  It also hears appeals on decisions by the Standing Committee acting on behalf of the United Nations Joint Staff Pension Board and by those agencies and entities that have accepted jurisdiction of the Appeals Tribunal.

The Assembly elected Sabrine Knierim (Germany), John Raymond Murphy (South Africa), Dimitrios Raikos (Greece) and Martha Halfeld Furtado de Mendonca Schmidt (Brazil).

The results of the voting were as follows:

For additional information on the composition of the Dispute and Appeals Tribunals and election of new members, see document A/70/190; for profiles of the candidates, see document A/70/538.

The General Assembly will meet again at 10 a.m. on Thursday, 19 November, to discuss the implementation of Agenda 21, the outcomes of the World Summit on Sustainable Development and of the United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development, as well as the investigation into the conditions and circumstances resulting in the tragic death of Dag Hammarskjöld and of the members of the party accompanying him.