2011 International Criminal Court judges election

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Six judges of the International Criminal Court were elected during the 10th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in New York between 12 and 21 December 2011. [1] The judges elected, Anthony Carmona of Trinidad and Tobago, Miriam Defensor Santiago of the Philippines, Chile Eboe-Osuji of Nigeria, Robert Fremr of the Czech Republic, Olga Venecia Herrera Carbuccia of the Dominican Republic and Howard Morrison of the United Kingdom, took office on 11 March 2012.

Contents

Background

The judges elected at this session were to replace those six judges who were elected at the first election of ICC judges in 2003 for a full term of nine years; they were also to serve for nine years until 2021.

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 had to belong to exactly one list.

Further rules of election were adopted by a resolution of the Assembly of States Parties in 2004. [2]

Judges remaining in office

The following judges were scheduled to remain in office beyond 2012: [3]

JudgeNationality List A or B Regional criteria Gender
List AList BAfricanAsianE. EuropeanGRULAGWEOGFemaleMale
Joyce Aluoch Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya XXX
Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi Flag of Argentina.svg  Argentina XXX
Hans-Peter Kaul Flag of Germany.svg  Germany XXX
Erkki Kourula Flag of Finland.svg  Finland XXX
Akua Kuenyehia Flag of Ghana.svg  Ghana XXX
Sanji Mmasenono Monageng Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana XXX
Kuniko Ozaki Flag of Japan.svg  Japan XXX
Sang-hyun Song Flag of South Korea.svg  South Korea XXX
Cuno Tarfusser Flag of Italy.svg  Italy XXX
Ekaterina Trendafilova Flag of Bulgaria.svg  Bulgaria XXX
Anita Ušacka Flag of Latvia.svg  Latvia XXX
Christine van den Wyngaert Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium XXX
    
663221484

Nomination process

The nomination period of judges for the 2011 election lasted from 13 June to 2 September 2011 [4] and was extended once until 16 September 2011 due to the lack of candidates from one regional group. [5] The following persons were nominated: [6]

CandidateNationality List A or B Regional criteria Gender
List AList BAfricanAsianE. EuropeanGRULAGWEOGFemaleMale
Rosolu John Bankole Thompson Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone XXX
Ajmi Bel Haj Hamouda Flag of Tunisia.svg  Tunisia XXX
Vinod Boolell Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius XXX
Modeste-Martineau Bria Flag of the Central African Republic.svg  Central African Republic XXX
Anthony Carmona Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago XXX
Bruno Cathala Flag of France.svg  France XXX
Eduardo Cifuentes Muñoz  [ es ]Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia XXX
Władysław Czapliński Flag of Poland.svg  Poland XXX
Miriam Defensor Santiago Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines XXX
Chile Eboe-Osuji Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria XXX
Robert Fremr Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic XXX
Olga Venecia Herrera Carbuccia Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic XXX
Gberdao Gustave Kam  [ nl ]Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso XXX
Javier Laynez Potisek Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico XXX
Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg  Democratic Republic of the Congo XXX
Howard Morrison Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom XXX
Hamani Mounkaile Nouhou Flag of Niger.svg  Niger XXX
George A. Serghides  [ de ]Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus XXX
Jorge Antonio Urbina Ortega Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica XXX
    
16382252217

The nomination period could have been extended for a maximum of six weeks (it was once), two at a time, if there had not been nominated at least twice as many candidates for each criterion as necessary.

The nomination of Ajmi Bel Haj Hamouda was withdrawn before the session.

Minimum voting requirements

Minimum voting requirements governed part of the election. This was to ensure that article 36(8)(a) cited above was fulfilled. For this election, the following minimum voting requirements initially existed; they were to be adjusted once the election was underway.

Regarding the List A or B requirement, States Parties had to vote for three candidates from list A in the first round of voting. There was no minimum voting requirement for candidates from list B, as enough judges from that list remained on the bench.

Regarding the regional criteria, initially there were minimal voting requirements for two regional groups: One vote had to be cast for an Eastern European State and two for Latin American and Caribbean States. On 13 October 2011, the Bureau of the ASP notified States Parties of the application of Paragraph 20 (b) of Resolution ICC-ASP/3/Res.6. The membership of the Maldives as the 17th Asian ICC member state triggered an increase in the corresponding minimum voting requirement. Accordingly, four votes initially had to be cast according to regional minimum voting requirements – one for an Asian State, one for an Eastern European State, and two for Latin American and Caribbean States states. There was no minimum voting requirement for judges from African and Western European and other states, as enough judges from these regional groups remained on the bench.

Regarding the gender criteria, there was no minimum voting requirement for female judges. States Parties had to vote for two male candidates in the first round of voting.

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 governs the elections states that if there are fewer than twice the number of candidates required for a region, the corresponding minimum voting requirement is half the number of candidates (rounded up), except if 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 is limited to a certain number depending on the number of candidates.

The regional and gender criteria are to be dropped if they are not (jointly) possible anymore, and in any case after the fourth ballot.

Given the nominations (already taking into account the withdrawal of Ajmi Bel Haj Hamouda which did not change the result, however), the initial minimum voting requirements were as follows: [7]

CriterionNumber of judges requiredNumber of judges remaining in officeVoting requirement ex anteNumber of candidatesAdjusted voting requirementAdjusted requirement equals ex ante?
Lists A or B
List A963153Yes
List B56030Yes
Regional criteria
African states33070Yes
Asian states32121Yes
Eastern European states32121Yes
Latin American and Caribbean States31252Yes
Western European and other States34020Yes
Gender criteria
Female68020Yes
Male642162Yes

Campaign on International Criminal Court Elections

Because of the importance of qualified and impartial judges, NGOs have taken a particular interest in the ICC judges election. [8] The "Campaign on International Criminal Court Elections" was launched to promote the nomination and election of the most highly qualified officials through fair, merit-based, and transparent processes. This Campaign is sponsored by the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, a group of NGOs. Among other things, the Coalition is strongly opposed to "vote-trading" among States Parties. [9] In December 2010, the Coalition established an Independent Panel on International Criminal Court Judicial Elections. The panel was to "issue a report containing an assessment of each judicial candidate as 'Qualified' or 'Not Qualified' after the closing of the nomination period and in advance of the December 2011 elections." [10] The members of the panel were: [10]

On 26 October 2011, the Panel published a report [11] in which it assessed the candidates in regard to their qualification to serve as a judge on the ICC in their respective list. All nominees except for Ajmi Bel Haj Hamouda, Javier Laynez Potisek, George A. Serghides and Jorge Antonio Urbina Ortega were assessed as qualified.

Ballots

The ballot results were as follows: [12]

NameNationalityList A or BRegionGender1st round2nd round3rd round4th round5th round6th round7th round8th round9th round10th round
12 December 201113 December 201114 December 201115 December 2011
Number of States Parties voting104107115116117115115114112114
Two-thirds majority70727778787777767576
Miriam Defensor Santiago Flag of the Philippines.svg  Philippines List BAsian StatesFemale79elected
Anthony Carmona Flag of Trinidad and Tobago.svg  Trinidad and Tobago List ALatin American and Caribbean StatesMale72elected
Robert Fremr Flag of the Czech Republic.svg  Czech Republic List AEastern European StatesMale6277elected
Howard Morrison Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom List AWestern European and other StatesMale51546264677169697062
Chile Eboe-Osuji Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria List AAfrican StatesMale34394147515257585661
Olga Venecia Herrera Carbuccia Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic List ALatin American and Caribbean StatesFemale44363838404041465752
Bruno Cathala Flag of France.svg  France List AWestern European and other StatesMale40444650515450544645
Vinod Boolell Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius List AAfrican StatesMale27292530312639373840
Jorge Antonio Urbina Ortega Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica List BLatin American and Caribbean StatesMale36373749454639394431
Javier Laynez Potisek Flag of Mexico.svg  Mexico List ALatin American and Caribbean StatesMale3328323430332524withdrawn
Eduardo Cifuentes Muñoz  [ es ]Flag of Colombia.svg  Colombia List ALatin American and Caribbean StatesMale35292523171612withdrawn
Władysław Czapliński Flag of Poland.svg  Poland List BEastern European StatesMale463614911withdrawn
Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg  Democratic Republic of the Congo List AAfrican StatesMale12106withdrawn
George A. Serghides  [ de ]Flag of Cyprus.svg  Cyprus List AAsian StatesMale286withdrawn
Modeste-Martineau Bria Flag of the Central African Republic.svg  Central African Republic List AAfrican StatesMale12withdrawn
Gberdao Gustave Kam  [ nl ]Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso List AAfrican StatesMale10withdrawn
Hamani Mounkaile Nouhou Flag of Niger.svg  Niger List AAfrican StatesMale7withdrawn
Rosolu John Bankole Thompson Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone List AAfrican StatesMale3withdrawn
NameNationalityList A or BRegionGender11th round12th round13th round14th round15th round
15 December 201116 December 2011
Number of States Parties voting109109105113102
Two-thirds majority7373707668
Olga Venecia Herrera Carbuccia Flag of the Dominican Republic.svg  Dominican Republic List ALatin American and Caribbean StatesFemale7177elected
Howard Morrison Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom List AWestern European and other StatesMale646672elected
Chile Eboe-Osuji Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria List AAfrican StatesMale62635968102
Bruno Cathala Flag of France.svg  France List AWestern European and other StatesMale44464545withdrawn
Vinod Boolell Flag of Mauritius.svg  Mauritius List AAfrican StatesMale363422withdrawn
Jorge Antonio Urbina Ortega Flag of Costa Rica.svg  Costa Rica List BLatin American and Caribbean StatesMalewithdrawn

After the first ballot, minimum voting requirement for Asian States dropped to zero. The list A minimum voting requirement dropped to two, the Latin American and Caribbean States (GRULAC) minimum voting requirement dropped to one and the male candidates minimum voting requirement dropped to one, as well. The Eastern European States minimum voting requirement remained at one.

After the second ballot, the minimum voting requirement for Eastern European States dropped to zero, as did the one for male candidates. The list A minimum voting requirement dropped to one while the GRULAC requirement remained at one.

After no new judges were elected during the third and fourth ballot, the GRULAC minimum voting requirement was abandoned. Only the list A minimum voting requirement (one judge) remained in place until such a judge was elected.

The minimum voting requirements are imposed on the ballots cast, not on the results. Thus, there is no guarantee that a corresponding number of judges is elected. However, in this election this was the case:

CriterionInitial minimal voting requirementCorresponding number of judges elected?
List A3Yes, after 12th ballot
Asian1Yes, after 1st ballot
Eastern European1Yes, after 2nd ballot
Latin American and Caribbean2Yes, after 12th ballot
Male2Yes, after 2nd ballot

Note that the regional minimum voting requirement was dropped after the 4th ballot and was thus no longer being imposed when a second Latin American and Carribean judge was elected in the 12th ballot.

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References

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  10. 1 2 "Independent Panel on ICC Judicial Elections". Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
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  12. "Final Results". Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. 19 December 2011. Retrieved 22 July 2024.