2003 International Criminal Court judges election

Summary

An ordinary election for the first full bench of 18 judges of the International Criminal Court was held during the first resumption of the 1st session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in New York between 3 and 7 February 2003.[1]

Background edit

The judges elected at this election were to take office on 11 March 2003. Six judges were to remain in office until 2006 (re-eligible), six until 2009 (not re-eligible) and another six for the whole nine-year term until 2012 (not re-eligible).

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:

  • (i) The representation of the principal legal systems of the world;
  • (ii) Equitable geographical representation; and
  • (iii) A fair representation of female and male judges."

Furthermore, article 36(3)(b) and 36(5) provide for two lists:

  • List A contains those judges that "[h]ave established competence in criminal law and procedure, and the necessary relevant experience, whether as judge, prosecutor, advocate or in other similar capacity, in criminal proceedings";
  • List B contains those who "[h]ave established competence in relevant areas of international law such as international humanitarian law and the law of human rights, and extensive experience in a professional legal capacity which is of relevance to the judicial work of the Court".

Each candidate must belong to exactly one list.

Nomination process edit

Following the rules, the nomination period of judges for the 2003 election lasted from 9 September to 30 November 2002. The following persons were nominated:[2]

Name Nationality List A or B Region Gender
René Blattmann   Bolivia List B Latin American and Caribbean States Male
Antonio Boggiano   Argentina List B Latin American and Caribbean States Male
Marc Bossuyt   Belgium List B Western European and Other States Male
Maureen H. Clark   Ireland List A Western European and Other States Female
Ion Diaconu   Romania List B Eastern European States Male
Fatoumata D. Diarra   Mali List A African States Female
Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikhan   Mongolia List B Asian States Male
Adrian Fulford   United Kingdom List A Western European and Other States Male
Ioannis Giannidis   Greece List A Western European and Other States Male
Dimitar Gochev   Bulgaria List B Eastern European States Male
Bunchhat Heng Vong   Cambodia List B Asian States Male
Karl T. Hudson-Phillips   Trinidad and Tobago List A Latin American and Caribbean States Male
Claude Jorda   France List A Western European and Other States Male
Ivo Josipović   Croatia List B Eastern European States Male
Adolphus G. Karibi-White   Nigeria List A African States Male
Hajnalka Kárpáti   Hungary List A Eastern European States Female
Joseph-Médard Katuala Kaba Kashala   Democratic Republic of the Congo List A African States Male
Hans-Peter Kaul   Germany List B Western European and Other States Male
Philippe Kirsch   Canada List B Western European and Other States Male
Erkki Kourula   Finland List B Western European and Other States Male
Akua Kuenyahia   Ghana List B African States Female
Kamugumya S. K. Lugakingira   Tanzania List A African States Male
Roberto Maclean Ugarteche   Peru List B Latin American and Caribbean States Male
Doudou Ndir   Senegal List A African States Male
Rafael Nieto Navia   Colombia List B Latin American and Caribbean States Male
Daniel D. N. Nsereko   Uganda List B African States Male
Elizabeth Odio Benito   Costa Rica List A Latin American and Caribbean States Female
Barbara L. Ott   Switzerland List A Western European and Other States Female
Gheorghios M. Pikis   Cyprus List A Asian States Male
Navanethem Pillay   South Africa List B African States Female
Mauro Politi   Italy List B Western European and Other States Male
Almiro Rodrigues   Portugal List A Western European and Other States Male
Victor Rodríguez-Cedeño   Venezuela List B Latin American and Caribbean States Male
Mory O. Sissoko   Nigeria List A African States Male
Tuiloma N. Slade   Samoa List A Asian States Male
Raymond C. Sock   Gambia List B African States Male
Sang-hyun Song   South Korea List A Asian States Male
Sylvia H. de Figueiredo Steiner   Brazil List A Latin American and Caribbean States Female
Timoci U. Tuivaga   Fiji List A Asian States Male
Anita Ušacka   Latvia List B Eastern European States Female
Juan A. Yáñez-Barnuevo   Spain List B Western European and Other States Male
Eleonora Zielińska   Poland List A Eastern European States Female
Boštjan Zupančič   Slovenia List A Eastern European States Male

The candidature of Kocou A. Capo-Chichi of Benin was withdrawn.

Minimum voting requirements edit

Minimum voting requirements governed part of the election. This was to ensure that article 36(8)(a) cited above is fulfilled. The following minimum voting requirements existed:

Regarding the List A or B requirement, there was a minimum voting requirement (not to be waived at any time) of nine judges from List A and five judges from List B.[3]

Regarding the regional criteria, there were minimum voting requirements for three African, two Asian, two Eastern European judges, three Latin American and Caribbean judges and three judges from Western European and Other States.

Regarding the gender criteria, there was a minimum voting requirement for six female and six male judges.

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 9 22 9 Yes
List B 6 22 6 Yes
Regional criteria
African states 3 11 3 Yes
Asian states 2 6 2 Yes
Eastern European states 2 7 2 Yes
Latin American and Caribbean States 3 8 3 Yes
Western European and other States 3 12 3 Yes
Gender criteria
Female 6 10 6 Yes
Male 6 34 6 Yes

Ballots edit

The ballots took place in February 2003.

Name Nationality List A or B Region Gender 1st round 2nd round 3rd round 4th round 5th round 6th round 7th round 8th round 9th round 10th round 11th round
Number of States Parties voting 83 80 83 83 85 85 85 85 85 85 85
Two-thirds majority 56 54 56 56 57 57 57 57 57 57 57
Maureen H. Clark   Ireland List A Western European and Other States Female 65 elected
Fatoumata D. Diarra   Mali List A African States Female 65 elected
Sang-hyun Song   South Korea List A Asian States Male 63 elected
Sylvia H. de Figueiredo Steiner   Brazil List A Latin American and Caribbean States Female 61 elected
Akua Kuenyahia   Ghana List B African States Female 60 elected
Elizabeth Odio Benito   Costa Rica List A Latin American and Caribbean States Female 60 elected
Navanethem Pillay   South Africa List B African States Female 56 elected
Karl T. Hudson-Phillips   Trinidad and Tobago List A Latin American and Caribbean States Male 53 49 56 elected
Gheorghios M. Pikis   Cyprus List A Asian States Male 43 47 50 60 elected
Philippe Kirsch   Canada List B Western European and Other States Male 55 46 54 57 elected
Erkki Kourula   Finland List B Western European and Other States Male 51 53 54 56 elected
Adrian Fulford   United Kingdom List A Western European and Other States Male 42 45 47 50 50 54 53 52 59 elected
Anita Ušacka   Latvia List B Eastern European States Female 46 31 37 52 49 51 50 55 59 elected
Hans-Peter Kaul   Germany List B Western European and Other States Male 43 45 48 47 54 50 50 46 57 elected
René Blattmann   Bolivia List B Latin American and Caribbean States Male 30 27 30 39 48 51 51 46 48 50 49
Mauro Politi   Italy List B Western European and Other States Male 46 46 49 52 54 44 41 42 49 47 47
Claude Jorda   France List A Western European and Other States Male 43 43 43 46 45 44 46 43 46 45 45
Ivo Josipović   Croatia List B Eastern European States Male 26 30 39 47 49 42 41 39 45 44 38
Barbara L. Ott   Switzerland List A Western European and Other States Female 45 36 36 38 39 44 42 34 37 31 34
Tuiloma N. Slade   Samoa List A Asian States Male 34 30 33 32 34 43 46 44 42 39 31
Adolphus G. Karibi-White   Nigeria List A African States Male 30 19 21 30 27 37 37 33 36 29 30
Doudou Ndir   Senegal List A African States Male 39 17 19 19 19 27 27 26 26 19 18
Bunchhat Heng Vong   Cambodia List B Asian States Male 15 10 8 8 6 5 7 10 10 9 9
Antonio Boggiano   Argentina List B Latin American and Caribbean States Male 18 7 11 9 9 11 9 9 withdrawn
Juan A. Yáñez-Barnuevo   Spain List B Western European and Other States Male 28 24 22 35 26 21 17 withdrawn
Boštjan Zupančič   Slovenia List A Eastern European States Male 27 27 27 23 10 withdrawn
Ioannis Giannidis   Greece List A Western European and Other States Male 14 15 18 11 8 withdrawn
Hajnalka Kárpáti   Hungary List A Eastern European States Female 35 26 24 20 8 withdrawn
Dimitar Gochev   Bulgaria List B Eastern European States Male 18 18 20 21 5 withdrawn
Eleonora Zielińska   Poland List A Eastern European States Female 36 26 24 15 5 withdrawn
Ion Diaconu   Romania List B Eastern European States Male 23 23 20 15 withdrawn
Victor Rodríguez-Cedeño   Venezuela List B Latin American and Caribbean States Male 20 9 10 8 withdrawn
Almiro Rodrigues   Portugal List A Western European and Other States Male 28 24 19 withdrawn
Rafael Nieto Navia   Colombia List B Latin American and Caribbean States Male 16 7 8 withdrawn
Mory O. Sissoko   Nigeria List A African States Male 9 7 7 withdrawn
Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikhan   Mongolia List B Asian States Male 27 11 6 withdrawn
Timoci U. Tuivaga   Fiji List A Asian States Male 14 7 6 withdrawn
Joseph-Médard Katuala Kaba Kashala   Democratic Republic of the Congo List A African States Male 14 8 5 withdrawn
Roberto Maclean Ugarteche   Peru List B Latin American and Caribbean States Male 18 10 withdrawn
Marc Bossuyt   Belgium List B Western European and Other States Male 20 9 withdrawn
Daniel D. N. Nsereko   Uganda List B African States Male 20 9 withdrawn
Raymond C. Sock   Gambia List B African States Male 9 withdrawn
Kamugumya S. K. Lugakingira   Tanzania List A African States Male 8 withdrawn
Name Nationality List A or B Region Gender 12th round 13th round 14th round 15th round 16th round 17th round 18th round 19th round 20th round 21st round 22nd round
Number of States Parties voting 85 84 84 84 85 85 85 85 85 85 83
Two-thirds majority 57 56 56 56 57 57 57 57 57 57 56
René Blattmann   Bolivia List B Latin American and Caribbean States Male 52 57 elected
Mauro Politi   Italy List B Western European and Other States Male 48 46 45 48 52 52 52 54 56 58 elected
Claude Jorda   France List A Western European and Other States Male 47 47 50 48 47 47 47 49 48 49 45
Tuiloma N. Slade   Samoa List A Asian States Male 29 27 25 22 28 28 39 39 37 42 44
Ivo Josipović   Croatia List B Eastern European States Male 40 42 37 41 40 41 45 42 39 37 40
Adolphus G. Karibi-White   Nigeria List A African States Male 31 29 27 24 26 24 21 20 23 20 14
Doudou Ndir   Senegal List A African States Male 16 15 10 15 15 16 15 13 13 12 10
Barbara L. Ott   Switzerland List A Western European and Other States Female 33 31 25 22 19 17 withdrawn
Bunchhat Heng Vong   Cambodia List B Asian States Male 8 6 5 5 withdrawn
Name Nationality List A or B Region Gender 23rd round 24th round 25th round 26th round 27th round 28th round 29th round 30th round 31st round 32nd round 33rd round
Number of States Parties voting 85 84 85 85 85 85 84 84 83 83 80
Two-thirds majority 57 56 57 57 57 57 56 56 56 56 54
Tuiloma N. Slade   Samoa List A Asian States Male 45 46 46 49 52 58 elected
Claude Jorda   France List A Western European and Other States Male 45 44 44 44 44 41 40 46 50 53 57
Adolphus G. Karibi-White   Nigeria List A African States Male 24 20 19 17 19 16 12 8 3 6 23
Ivo Josipović   Croatia List B Eastern European States Male 37 35 36 40 42 38 32 30 30 24 withdrawn
Doudou Ndir   Senegal List A African States Male withdrawn

References edit

  1. ^ "Election of the judges of the International Criminal Court". International Criminal Court. Retrieved 11 December 2011.
  2. ^ United Nations (2003). Nominations for judges of the International Criminal Court – First election Archived 8 August 2007 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 11 April 2022
  3. ^ Note verbale governing the election Archived 3 June 2015 at the Library of Congress Web Archives. ICC. Retrieved 11 December 2011.