UN elects five judges to International Court of Justice amid record cases

The election, held at UN headquarters, required several rounds of voting to fill the fifth and final seat.

Judges arrive at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to hear South Africa's request on a Gaza ceasefire in The Hague, the Netherlands, on May 24, 2024 [File: Nick Gammon/AFP]

The United Nations has elected five judges to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for nine-year terms, as the court faces a record caseload, including South Africa’s genocide case against Israel over its war on Gaza.

The vote was held on Tuesday at UN headquarters, with candidates requiring an absolute majority in both the General Assembly and the Security Council to win.

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Dapo Akande of the United Kingdom, Francois Alabrune of France, Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan, Rena Lee of Singapore and Phoebe Okowa of Kenya were elected to the 15-member panel.

Their terms are set to begin on February 6, 2027.

The two UN bodies initially agreed on four candidates but failed to select a fifth. The Security Council supported Ecuador’s Marcelo Vazquez-Bermudez, while the General Assembly backed Okowa, prompting further rounds of voting.

Vazquez-Bermudez later withdrew from the race, and Okowa subsequently won the backing of the General Assembly and the Security Council.

The votes were held by secret ballot concurrently, but separately.

The ICJ is based in The Hague and has 15 judges, each from a different country. They serve nine-year terms and may be re-elected. To ensure a degree of continuity, a third of the bench is elected every three years.

The election comes as the World Court faces a record workload.

ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa told the General Assembly on October 29 that 24 contentious cases are pending, covering disputes over territory, human rights and the interpretation of international treaties.

Among them is South Africa’s case accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention in its war on Gaza. The court has previously ordered provisional measures but has not issued a final ruling on whether genocide occurred.

In October 2025, the court issued an advisory opinion outlining Israel’s obligations towards the UN and humanitarian organisations operating in the occupied Palestinian territory.

Separately, the court announced on Tuesday that it would deliver a judgment on November 19 in The Gambia’s case accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya minority.

Established in 1945, the ICJ is the UN’s principal judicial organ, responsible for settling disputes between states and providing advisory opinions on questions of international law.

此次选举在联合国总部举行，经过几轮投票才选出第五个也是最后一个席位。

2024年5月24日，法官们抵达位于荷兰海牙的国际法院，听取南非关于加沙停火的请求。[图片：Nick Gammon/AFP]

联合国选举五名法官进入国际法院（ICJ），任期九年。国际法院面临创纪录的案件量，其中包括南非对以色列在加沙战争中犯下的种族灭绝罪的诉讼。

投票于周二在联合国总部举行，候选人需要在大会和安全理事会都获得绝对多数票才能当选。

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列表 2/4：美国为何制裁国际刑事法院？

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英国的达波·阿坎德、法国的弗朗索瓦·阿拉布鲁内、约旦的马哈茂德·戴法拉·赫穆德、新加坡的雷娜·李和肯尼亚的菲比·奥科瓦当选为15人小组的成员。

他们的任期将于 2027 年 2 月 6 日开始。

联合国两大机构最初就四位候选人达成一致，但未能选出第五位。安全理事会支持厄瓜多尔的马塞洛·巴斯克斯-贝穆德斯，而大会则支持奥科瓦，这导致需要进行更多轮投票。

瓦斯奎兹-贝尔穆德斯后来退出了竞选，奥科瓦随后赢得了联合国大会和安全理事会的支持。

投票以无记名投票方式同时进行，但分别进行。

国际法院设在海牙，由15名法官组成，每位法官来自不同的国家。法官任期九年，可以连任。为确保一定程度的连续性，每三年选举三分之一的法官。

此次选举正值世界法院面临创纪录的工作量之际。

国际法院院长岩泽雄二于 10 月 29 日在大会上表示，目前有 24 起争议案件待审，涉及领土争端、人权问题以及国际条约的解释问题。

其中包括南非指控以色列在加沙战争中违反《防止及惩治灭绝种族罪公约》的案件。法院此前已下令采取临时措施，但尚未就种族灭绝是否发生作出最终裁决。

2025 年 10 月，法院发布了一项咨询意见，概述了以色列对在被占领的巴勒斯坦领土上开展工作的联合国和人道主义组织的义务。

另外，法院周二宣布，将于 11 月 19 日对冈比亚指控缅甸对罗兴亚少数族裔实施种族灭绝的案件作出判决。

国际法院成立于 1945 年，是联合国的主要司法机关，负责解决国家间的争端，并就国际法问题提供咨询意见。