New ICJ Judge Elected

The United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council on Monday (17 Nov) elected Patrick Lipton Robinson of Jamaica to serve a nine-year term as a judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

Four other judges had been elected earlier in the month, but after two days and numerous rounds of voting, both chambers failed to elect a fifth judge to fill the remaining seat.

After today's voting in the Assembly and the Council – which met concurrently with but independent of each other – Robinson will join Mohamed Bennouna of Morocco, James Richard Crawford of Australia, Joan E. Donoghue of the United States, and Kirill Gevorgian of the Russian Federation starting on 6 February next year.

The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected by an absolute majority in both the General Assembly (97 votes) and Security Council (8 votes). The timing of elections is staggered so that the General Assembly elects a third of the Court once every three years.

The terms of five judges will expire on 5 February 2015: Bernardo Sepúlveda-Amor (Mexico); Kenneth Keith (New Zealand); Mohamed Bennouna (Morocco); Leonid Skotnikov (Russian Federation); and Joan E. Donoghue (United States). Judges are eligible for re-election.

According to the Court's Statute, its judges must be chosen by coordinated actions of both the Council and the General Assembly, with the date of elections determined by the Council.

SHOTLIST:
17 NOVEMBER 2014, NEW YORK CITY

Exterior United Nations headquarters
Various shots, General Assembly vote
Security Council ballot distribution
Security Council President
Various shots, Security Council vote
Jamaica delegation celebrating
Security Council

SOUNDBITE (English) Sam Kutesa, UN General Assembly President:
"Mr. Patrick Lipton…"

SOUNDBITE (English) Sam Kutesa, UN General Assembly President:
"Mr. Patrick Lipton Robinson of Jamaica has obtained an absolute majority in the General Assembly."

SOUNDBITE (English) Gary Quinlan, President of the Security Council:
"The same candidate has received the required absolute majority of votes in the Council and in the General Assembly, as both the Council and in the General Assembly have agreed on the same candidates, the jurists Mr. Mohamed Bennouna, Mr. James Richard Crawford, Ms. Joan E. Donoghue, Mr. Kirill Gevorgian, and Mr. Patrick Lipton Robinson have been elected to the International Court of Justice for a term of office of nine years beginning on 6 February 2015."

DURATION: 01:48