The United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council elected five judges on November 9 to serve on the International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

Each judge will serve a nine-year term, starting on February 6, 2024. 

The ICJ settles legal disputes between States and gives advisory opinions on legal questions that have been referred to it by other authorised UN organs.

The International Court of Justice

• The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

• It is informally known as the ‘World Court’.

• It was established by the United Nations Charter in June 1945.

• The first members of the ICJ were elected on February 6, 1946, at the first session of the UN General Assembly. The Court held its inaugural sitting at the iconic Peace Palace in The Hague, on April 18, 1946.

• The Court is composed of 15 judges elected for a nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. 

• The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands).

• Of the six principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York, USA. 

The Court has a twofold role:

1) To settle, in accordance with international law, through judgments which have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned, legal disputes submitted to it by States.

2) To give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by duly authorised United Nations organs and agencies of the system.

• The jurisdiction of the Court comprises all cases which the parties refer to it and all matters specially provided for in the Charter of the United Nations or in treaties and conventions in force.

• The Court can only hear a dispute when requested to do so by one or more States. It cannot deal with a dispute on its own initiative. Neither is it permitted, under its Statute, to investigate and rule on acts of sovereign States as it chooses.

• States which are not members of the United Nations may become parties to the Statute of the Court on conditions to be determined in each case by the General Assembly upon the recommendation of the Security Council.

Election of judges

• The Court is composed of 15 judges, who serve nine-year terms. 

• Five seats come up for election every three years. There is no bar on consecutive terms.

• Judges are chosen on the basis of their qualifications, not their nationality. But, no two judges can be from the same country. Effort is also taken to ensure a balance in the composition of the Court.

• The election of the judges or members of the ICJ are held in accordance with the Statute of the Court, the Rules of Procedure of the General Assembly, and the provisional rules of procedure of the Security Council.

• To be elected, members must secure an absolute majority in both the General Assembly (97 votes) and Security Council (8 votes).

• If in the first ballot in either the Assembly or the Council, the number of candidates obtaining an absolute majority is fewer than five, a second ballot is held and balloting continues at the same meeting until five candidates have obtained the required majority.

• There have been instances in which more than the required number of candidates have obtained an absolute majority on the same ballot. In these cases, the Assembly or the Council continue balloting until only five of the candidates have obtained the required majority.