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2017 International Criminal Court judges election

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Six judges of the International Criminal Court were elected during the 16th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court held from 4 to 14 December 2017 in New York. The judges were elected for terms of nine years and took office on 11 March 2018.

Background

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The judges elected at this session replaced six judges elected in 2009 for terms lasting until 2018; they will also serve for nine years until 2027.

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 has to belong to exactly one list. A minimum of nine judges elected from list A and five judges elected from list B is to be maintained on the court.

Further rules of election were adopted by a resolution of the Assembly of States Parties in 2004.[1]

Judges remaining in office

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The following judges were scheduled to remain in office beyond 2018:[2]

Judge Nationality   List A or B   Regional criteria   Gender
List A List B African Asian E. European GRULAG WEOG Female Male
Chile Eboe-Osuji  Nigeria X X X
Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua  Democratic Republic of the Congo X X X
Chung Chang-ho  South Korea X X X
Raul Cano Pangalangan  Philippines X X X
Robert Fremr  Czech Republic X X X
Piotr Hofmański  Poland X X X
Péter Kovács  Hungary X X X
Geoffrey A. Henderson  Trinidad and Tobago X X X
Olga Venecia Herrera Carbuccia  Dominican Republic X X X
Howard Morrison  United Kingdom X X X
Marc Perrin de Brichambaut  France X X X
Bertram Schmitt  Germany X X X
       
8 4 2 2 3 2 3 1 11

Nomination process

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The nomination period of judges for the 2017 election lasted from 24 April to 16 July 2017.[3] It was extended three times (the maximal number of extensions), to 30 July,[4] to 13 August[5] and finally to 27 August,[6] because the required number of ten female candidates had not been nominated. The final extension also did not result in this requirement being fulfilled. The following persons were nominated:[7]

Candidate Nationality   List A or B   Regional criteria   Gender
List A List B African Asian E. European GRULAG WEOG Female Male
Rosario Salvatore Aitala  Italy X X X
Tomoko Akane  Japan X X X
Reine Alapini-Gansou  Benin X X X
Solomy Balungi Bossa  Uganda X X X
Zlata Đurđević  Croatia X X X
Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza  Peru X X X
Khosbayar Chagdaa  Mongolia X X X
Nthomeng Justina Majara  Lesotho X X X
Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu  Ghana X X X
Ariela Peralta Distéfano  Uruguay X X X
Kimberly Prost  Canada X X X
Dragomir Vukoje  Bosnia and Herzegovina X X X
       
9 3 4 2 2 2 2 9 3

Minimum voting requirements

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Minimum voting requirements governed part of the election. This was to ensure that articles 36(5) and 36(8)(a) cited above were fulfilled. For this election, the following minimum voting requirements applied initially:[8]

Criterion Number of judges required Number of judges remaining in office Ex ante voting requirement Number of candidates Adjusted voting requirement Adjusted voting requirement equals ex ante?
Lists A or B
List A 9 8 1 9 1 Yes
List B 5 4 1 3 1 Yes
Regional criteria
African 3 2 1 4 1 Yes
Asian 3 2 1 2 1 Yes
Eastern European 3 3 0 2 0 Yes
Latin American and Caribbean 3 2 1 2 1 Yes
Western European and other 3 3 0 2 0 Yes
Gender criteria
Female 6 1 5 9 5 Yes
Male 6 11 0 3 0 Yes

Regarding the List A or B requirement, one vote had to be cast for a List A candidate and one for a List B candidate.

Regarding the regional criteria, three votes had to be cast for certain regional groups: one for an African candidate, one for an Asian candidate and one for a Latin American or Caribbean candidate.

Regarding the gender criteria, five votes had to be cast for female candidates.

The regional and gender requirements could have been adjusted before the election depending on the number of candidates, pursuant to paragraphs 20 (b) and (c) of the resolution that governs the elections.[1]

The minimum voting requirements are updated after each ballot to account for the judges already elected. The regional and gender requirements are dropped either if they can no longer be (jointly) fulfilled, or if after four ballots not all seats are filled. The List A or B requirement remains active until a sufficient number of judges has been elected from each list.

Ballots

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The ballot results were as follows:[9]

Candidate Nationality 4 December 2017 5 December 2017 6 December 2017
1st ballot 2nd ballot 3rd ballot 4th ballot 5th ballot 6th ballot 7th ballot 8th ballot 9th ballot
Valid votes cast 109 118 119 120 122 122 122 123 123
Two-thirds majority 73 79 80 80 82 82 82 82 82
Tomoko Akane  Japan 88 elected
Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza  Peru 77 elected
Reine Alapini-Gansou  Benin 66 70 77 83 elected
Solomy Balungi Bossa  Uganda 67 71 78 81 elected
Kimberly Prost  Canada 66 67 72 74 76 92 elected
Rosario Salvatore Aitala  Italy 55 53 57 56 45 63 77 77 84
Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu  Ghana 49 52 57 60 42 45 45 46 39
Zlata Đurđević  Croatia 59 51 51 49 37 36 withdrawn
Ariela Peralta Distefano  Uruguay 61 52 40 39 17 withdrawn
Nthomeng Justina Majara  Lesotho 37 35 33 30 22 withdrawn
Khosbayar Chagdaa  Mongolia 24 15 7 withdrawn
Dragomir Vukoje  Bosnia and Herzegovina 3 3 withdrawn

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:

Criterion Initial minimal voting requirement Corresponding number of judges elected?
List A 1 Yes, after 1st ballot
List B 1 Yes, after 4th ballot
African 1 Yes, after 4th ballot
Asian 1 Yes, after 1st ballot
Latin American and Caribbean 1 Yes, after 1st ballot
Female 5 Yes, after 6th ballot

Note that the minimum voting requirement according to gender was dropped after the 4th ballot and was thus no longer being imposed when a fifth female judge was elected in the 6th ballot.

References

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  1. ^ a b "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.
  2. ^ "Annex II – Composition of the Judges" (PDF). Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. p. 12. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  3. ^ "ICC-ASP/16/SP/07" (PDF). Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  4. ^ "ICC-ASP/16/SP/39" (PDF). Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  5. ^ "ICC-ASP/16/SP/46" (PDF). Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  6. ^ "ICC-ASP/16/SP/47" (PDF). Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. Retrieved July 23, 2024.
  7. ^ "2017 Nominations - Election of six judges". Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. April 28, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  8. ^ "Annex II – Tables of minimum voting requirements" (PDF). Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. p. 12. Retrieved July 22, 2024.
  9. ^ "2017 - Election of six judges - Results". Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute. December 4, 2017. Retrieved July 22, 2024.