In brief
The United Nations voted to fill all 15 seats of its International Court of Justice, electing five judges for nine‑year terms. The election, held concurrently with secret ballots in the General Assembly and Security Council, concluded after several rounds and a withdrawal by a candidate. The court now confronts 24 contentious cases, notably South Africa’s genocide claim against Israel. The new judges will begin serving in February 2027.
The United Nations elected five new judges to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Tuesday, a move that arrives as the court’s docket swells to a record 24 contentious cases, including the high‑profile case in which South Africa has accused Israel of genocide in its war on Gaza. The election decision, announced in a statement released by the UN Secretariat, will see the judges serve nine‑year terms beginning on 6 February 2027.
Al Jazeera reports that the five elected judges are Dapo Akande of the United Kingdom, Francois Alabrune of France, Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan, Rena Lee of Singapore, and Phoebe Okowa of Kenya. The voting process required an absolute majority in both the General Assembly and the Security Council, a criterion that has historically made the selection of the ICJ’s bench a delicate inter‑institutional negotiation.
Early on the two UN bodies had agreed on four candidates. The Security Council initially backed Ecuadorian judge Marcelo Vazquez‑Bermudez for the remaining seat, while the General Assembly supported Okowa. A fourth round of secret ballots followed, in which Vazquez‑Bermudez withdrew from the race. Okowa then secured the backing of both the General Assembly and the Security Council, thus clinching the final position of the new bench.
Election Process and Procedural Nuances
The procedure for electing an ICJ judge is detailed in the Court’s Statute. It requires that a candidate receive an absolute majority of the votes cast in both a secret ballot held by the General Assembly and a separate secret ballot held by the Security Council. When the two bodies do not agree on a candidate, additional rounds of voting are held. The 2024 election exemplified the careful balancing act that can occur when the General Assembly prefers one nominee while the Security Council prefers another.
Record Caseload and Pending Disputes
According to a statement by ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa, delivered on 29 October at the General Assembly, the Court was already grappling with 24 contentious cases when the new judges were elected. These cases cover a spectrum of disputes from territorial disputes to alleged violations of human rights and the interpretation of international agreements. The most publicized of the pending cases is South Africa’s genocide claim against Israel, which cites alleged violations of the Genocide Convention during Israel’s operations in Gaza. While the Court has issued provisional measures in that case, it has yet to deliver a definitive ruling on whether genocide occurred.
The record workload means that the newly elected judges will face a heavy slate of cases as soon as they assume their positions. The decision, announced by the UN after more than twenty rounds of voting across both bodies, underscores the dynamic nature of the Court’s jurisdiction and the necessity of a homogeneous, well‑representative bench to manage its litigation.
While the new judges will begin their terms on 6 February 2027, the outcomes of the ICJ’s 24 pending contentious cases—including the South Africa genocide lawsuit—remain unresolved. Moreover, it is still unknown how the fresh bench will influence forthcoming rulings or whether the procedural changes in election dynamics will impact the Court’s deliberations in the long term. The election also highlights the procedural ambiguities inherent in creating a fully functional bench for a court that sits at the crossroads of international law and politics.
