January 2009 International Criminal Court judges election

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An ordinary election for six judges of the International Criminal Court was held during the resumption of the 7th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in New York on 19 and 20 January 2009. [1]

Contents

The election was to replace six judges who had been elected for a six-year term during the initial election in 2003.

Background

The judges elected at this election were to take office on 11 March 2009, and to remain in office until 10 March 2018.[ citation needed ]

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. [2]

Nomination process

Following these rules, the nomination period of judges for the 2009 election lasted from 21 July to 13 October 2008 and was extended thrice until 24 November 2008 due to the lack of candidates from some groups for which minimum voting requirements were in place. The following persons were nominated: [3]

NameNationalityList A or BRegionGender
Victoire Désirée Adétoro Agbanrin-Elisha Flag of Benin.svg  Benin List AAfrican StatesFemale
Joyce Aluoch Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya List AAfrican StatesFemale
Phani Dascalopoulou-Livada Flag of Greece.svg  Greece List BWestern European and Other StatesFemale
Christopher John Robert Dugard Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa List BAfrican StatesMale
Chile Eboe-Osuji Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria List AAfrican StatesMale
María del Carmen González Cabal Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador List BLatin American and Caribbean StatesFemale
Gberdao Gustave Kam Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso List AAfrican StatesMale
Sanji Mmasenono Monageng Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana List BAfrican StatesFemale
Aminatta Lois Runeni N'Gum Flag of The Gambia.svg  Gambia List BAfrican StatesFemale
Vonimbolana Rasoazanany Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar List AAfrican StatesFemale
Fumiko Saiga Flag of Japan.svg  Japan List BAsian StatesFemale
Mohamed Shahabuddeen Flag of Guyana.svg  Guyana List BLatin American and Caribbean StatesMale
Angélique Sita-Akele Muila Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg  Democratic Republic of the Congo List BAfrican StatesFemale
El Hadji Malick Sow Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal List AAfrican StatesMale
Cuno Tarfusser Flag of Italy.svg  Italy List AWestern European and Other StatesMale
Wilhelmina Thomassen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands List AWestern European and Other StatesFemale
Rosolu John Bankole Thompson Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone List AAfrican StatesMale
Christine van den Wyngaert Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium List AWestern European and Other StatesFemale
Dragomir Vokuje Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina List AEastern European StatesMale

The candidatures of Fernando Enrique Arboleda Ripoll of Colombia and of Lombe Chibesakunda of Zambia were withdrawn.

The candidature of Onesimus Mutungi of Kenya was replaced by the candidature of Joyce Aluoch.

Chile Eboe-Osuji of Nigeria was originally listed for list B. [4]

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 one judge from List A and one judge from List B. [5]

Regarding the regional criteria, there was a voting requirement for one judge from the Asian States and one judge from the Latin American and Caribbean States.

Regarding the gender criteria, there was no minimum voting requirement.

The regional and gender criteria could have been (and were) 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 A1111Yes
List B181Yes
Regional criteria
African states0110Yes
Asian states110No
Eastern European states010Yes
Latin American and Caribbean States121Yes
Western European and other States040Yes
Gender criteria
Female0110Yes
Male080Yes

Ballots

The first two ballots took place on 19 January 2009. All other ballots took place on 20 January 2009.[ citation needed ]

NameNationalityList A or BRegionGender1st round2nd round3rd round4th round5th round6th round7th round8th round9th round
Number of States Parties voting108108108107108105108108100
Two-thirds majority727272727272727267
Mohamed Shahabuddeen Flag of Guyana.svg  Guyana List BLatin American and Caribbean StatesMale79elected
Fumiko Saiga Flag of Japan.svg  Japan List BAsian StatesFemale72elected
Cuno Tarfusser Flag of Italy.svg  Italy List AWestern European and Other StatesMale696874elected
Sanji Mmasenono Monageng Flag of Botswana.svg  Botswana List BAfrican StatesFemale41506475elected
Christine van den Wyngaert Flag of Belgium (civil).svg  Belgium List AWestern European and Other StatesFemale5858616773elected
Joyce Aluoch Flag of Kenya.svg  Kenya List AAfrican StatesFemale3032393638485562100
Wilhelmina Thomassen Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands List AWestern European and Other StatesFemale5962626065565346withdrawn
Phani Dascalopoulou-Livada Flag of Greece.svg  Greece List BWestern European and Other StatesFemale4843312814withdrawn
Christopher John Robert Dugard Flag of South Africa.svg  South Africa List BAfrican StatesMale3027252014withdrawn
María del Carmen González Cabal Flag of Ecuador.svg  Ecuador List BLatin American and Caribbean StatesFemale31181814withdrawn
Chile Eboe-Osuji Flag of Nigeria.svg  Nigeria List AAfrican StatesMale241612withdrawn
Vonimbolana Rasoazanany Flag of Madagascar.svg  Madagascar List AAfrican StatesFemale10612withdrawn
Gberdao Gustave Kam Flag of Burkina Faso.svg  Burkina Faso List AAfrican StatesMale149withdrawn
Angélique Sita-Akele Muila Flag of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.svg  Democratic Republic of the Congo List BAfrican StatesFemale114withdrawn
El Hadji Malick Sow Flag of Senegal.svg  Senegal List AAfrican StatesMale104withdrawn
Dragomir Vokuje Flag of Bosnia and Herzegovina.svg  Bosnia and Herzegovina List AEastern European StatesMale94withdrawn
Aminatta Lois Runeni N'Gum Flag of The Gambia.svg  Gambia List BAfrican StatesFemale53withdrawn
Rosolu John Bankole Thompson Flag of Sierra Leone.svg  Sierra Leone List AAfrican StatesMale92withdrawn
Victoire Désirée Adétoro Agbanrin-Elisha Flag of Benin.svg  Benin List AAfrican StatesFemale4withdrawn

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References

  1. "Results of the third election of the judges of the International Criminal Court". International Criminal Court. 20 January 2009. Archived from the original on 19 September 2012. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  2. "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.
  3. "Alphabetical listing". International Criminal Court. 17 January 2009. Retrieved 12 October 2011.
  4. Alphabetical listing. ICC. Retrieved 12 December 2011.
  5. Note verbale governing the election. ICC. Retrieved 11 December 2011.