2007 International Criminal Court judges election

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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]

Contents

The election was to replace three judges who had resigned during 2006 and 2007.

Background

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]

Nomination process

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]

NameNationalityList A or BRegionGender
Bruno Cotte Flag of France.svg  France List AWestern European and Other StatesMale
Graciela Dixon Flag of Panama.svg  Panama List ALatin American and Caribbean StatesFemale
Daniel Nsereko Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda List AAfrican StatesMale
Jean Angela Permanand Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago List ALatin American and Caribbean StatesFemale
Fumiko Saiga Flag of Japan.svg  Japan List BAsian StatesFemale

The candidature of Sunday Akinola Akintan of Nigeria was withdrawn. [5]

Minimum voting requirements

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:

CriterionVoting requirement ex anteCandidates as of nowAdjusted voting requirementAdjusted requirement equals ex ante?
Lists A or B
List A242Yes
List B010Yes
Regional criteria
African states010Yes
Asian states010Yes
Eastern European states000Yes
Latin American and Caribbean States020Yes
Western European and other States010Yes
Gender criteria
Female030Yes
Male020Yes

Ballots

The first two ballots took place on 30 November 2007. The other two ballots took place on 3 December 2007.

NameNationalityList A or BRegionGender1st round2nd round3rd round4th round
Number of States Parties voting105104102102
Two-thirds majority70696868
Fumiko Saiga Flag of Japan.svg  Japan List BAsian StatesFemale82elected
Bruno Cotte Flag of France.svg  France List AWestern European and Other StatesMale79elected
Daniel Nsereko Flag of Uganda.svg  Uganda List AAfrican StatesMale54536074
Graciela Dixon Flag of Panama.svg  Panama List ALatin American and Caribbean StatesFemale45252128
Jean Angela Permanand Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago List ALatin American and Caribbean StatesFemale502621withdrawn

The drawing of lots had Saiga serve until 2009 and Cotte and Nsereko until 2012. [7]

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References

  1. "Results of the third election of the judges of the International Criminal Court". International Criminal Court. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  2. "Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court – Sixth session – New York, 30 November - 14 December 2007 – Official Records – Volume I" (PDF). International Criminal Court. p. 12. Retrieved 27 August 2024.
  3. "Resolution ICC-ASP/3/Res.6" (PDF). Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. 10 September 2004. Archived (PDF) from the original on 15 April 2024. Retrieved 22 July 2024.
  4. "Alphabetical listing". International Criminal Court. 3 October 2007. Archived from the original on 6 April 2017. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  5. Nomination of judges. ICC. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  6. Note verbale governing the election. ICC. Retrieved 11 December 2011. Take into account that Claude Jorda's resignation was not yet taken into account for that note verbale!
  7. Official Records. ICC. Retrieved 11 December 2011.