A special election for three judges of the International Criminal Court was held during the 6th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in New York on 30 November and 3 December 2007. [1]
The election was to replace three judges who had resigned during 2006 and 2007.
The judges elected at this election took office on the date of their elections. [2] Two were to remain in office until 10 March 2012, one judge (to be chosen by drawing of lots) until 10 March 2009.
The election was governed by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Its article 36(8)(a) states that "[t]he States Parties shall, in the selection of judges, take into account the need, within the membership of the Court, for:
Furthermore, article 36(3)(b) and 36(5) provide for two lists:
Each candidate must belong to exactly one list.
Further rules of election were adopted by a resolution of the Assembly of States Parties in 2004. [3]
Following these rules, the nomination period of judges for the 2007 election lasted from 1 June to 24 August 2007. The following persons were nominated: [4]
Name | Nationality | List A or B | Region | Gender |
Bruno Cotte | France | List A | Western European and Other States | Male |
Graciela Dixon | Panama | List A | Latin American and Caribbean States | Female |
Daniel Nsereko | Uganda | List A | African States | Male |
Jean Angela Permanand | Trinidad and Tobago | List A | Latin American and Caribbean States | Female |
Fumiko Saiga | Japan | List B | Asian States | Female |
The candidature of Sunday Akinola Akintan of Nigeria was withdrawn. [5]
Minimum voting requirements governed part of the election. This was to ensure that article 36(8)(a) cited above is fulfilled. For this election, the following minimum voting requirements existed; they were to be adjusted once the election was underway.
Regarding the List A or B requirement, there was a minimum voting requirement (not to be waived at any time) of two judges from List A . [6]
Regarding the regional criteria, there was no minimum voting requirement.
Regarding the gender criteria, there was no minimum voting requirement.
The regional and gender criteria could have been adjusted even before the election depending on the number of candidates. Paragraph 20(b) of the ASP resolution that governed the elections states that if there are less than double the number of candidates required for each region, the minimum voting requirement shall be a (rounded-up) half of the number of candidates; except when there is only one candidate which results in no voting requirement. Furthermore, if the number of candidates of one gender is less than ten, then the minimum voting requirement shall not exceed a certain number depending on the number of candidates.
The regional and gender criteria could have been dropped either if they were not (jointly) possible any more, or if after four ballots not all seats were filled.
The voting requirements were as follows:
Criterion | Voting requirement ex ante | Candidates as of now | Adjusted voting requirement | Adjusted requirement equals ex ante? |
Lists A or B | ||||
List A | 2 | 4 | 2 | Yes |
List B | 0 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
Regional criteria | ||||
African states | 0 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
Asian states | 0 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
Eastern European states | 0 | 0 | 0 | Yes |
Latin American and Caribbean States | 0 | 2 | 0 | Yes |
Western European and other States | 0 | 1 | 0 | Yes |
Gender criteria | ||||
Female | 0 | 3 | 0 | Yes |
Male | 0 | 2 | 0 | Yes |
The first two ballots took place on 30 November 2007. The other two ballots took place on 3 December 2007.
Name | Nationality | List A or B | Region | Gender | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | 4th round |
Number of States Parties voting | 105 | 104 | 102 | 102 | ||||
Two-thirds majority | 70 | 69 | 68 | 68 | ||||
Fumiko Saiga | Japan | List B | Asian States | Female | 82 | elected | ||
Bruno Cotte | France | List A | Western European and Other States | Male | 79 | elected | ||
Daniel Nsereko | Uganda | List A | African States | Male | 54 | 53 | 60 | 74 |
Graciela Dixon | Panama | List A | Latin American and Caribbean States | Female | 45 | 25 | 21 | 28 |
Jean Angela Permanand | Trinidad and Tobago | List A | Latin American and Caribbean States | Female | 50 | 26 | 21 | withdrawn |
The drawing of lots had Saiga serve until 2009 and Cotte and Nsereko until 2012. [7]
The International Criminal Court is an intergovernmental organization and international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute individuals for the international crimes of genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and the crime of aggression. The ICC is distinct from the International Court of Justice, an organ of the United Nations that hears disputes between states.
The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998 and it entered into force on 1 July 2002. As of February 2024, 124 states are party to the statute. Among other things, it establishes court function, jurisdiction and structure.
Parliamentarians for Global Action (PGA) is a non-profit, non-partisan international network of committed legislators, that informs and mobilizes parliamentarians in all regions of the world to advocate for human rights and the rule of law, democracy, human security, non-discrimination, gender equality, and climate justice. PGA Membership is open to individual legislators from elected parliaments. Currently, it consists of approximately 1,200 members in 139 parliaments. PGA was established in 1978 in Washington, D.C., by a group of concerned parliamentarians from around the world to take collective, coordinated and cohesive actions on global problems, which could not be successfully addressed by any one government or parliament acting alone. Founded during the Cold War era, an early focus and priority of the organization was the mobilization of parliamentarians worldwide in support of nuclear disarmament. The vision of PGA is "to contribute to the creation of a Rules-Based International Order for a more equitable, safe, and democratic world".
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