A/42/PV.66 General Assembly

The Assembly will now proceed to vote to fill the one remaining vacancy on the International Court of Justice. Ballot papers are being distributed. I remind representatives that votes can be cast for any candidate except Roberto Ago, Mohammed Bedjaoui, Nikolai Tarassov and Stephen Schwebel, who have already been elected Inembers of the Court. Representatives should mark the name of only one candidate with a cross. Any ballot papers with more than one name marked will be declared invalid. At the invitation of the President, Mr. Brown (Australia), Mrs. de Incera (Costa Rica), Mr. Prodjowarsito (Indonesia) and Mr. Eke (Benin) acted as tellers. A vote was taken by secret ballot. The meeting was suspended at 8.55 p.m. and resumed at 9.55 p.m

The result of the voting is as follows: Number of ballot papers: Number of invalid ballots: Number of valid ballots: Abstentions: Number of Members voting: Required majority: Number of votes obtained: Mr. Mohamed Shahabuddeen (Guyana) 100 Mr. Jose Sette-Camara (Brazil) 38 Mr. Laurel B. Francis (Jamaica) 7 Mr. Erik Suy (Belgium) 3 Mr. Willem Riphagen (Netherlands) 1

Mr. Mohamed Shahabuddeen has accordingly received the required absolute majority in the General Assembly. I have communicated this result to the President of the Security Council and have received from him the following letter announcing the result of the vote in the Council: "I have the honour to inform you that at the 2762nd meeting of the Security Council, held on 11 November 1987 for the purpose of electing one member of the International Court of Justice, Mr. Mohamed Shahabuddeen obtained an absolute majority of votes.~ o As a result of the voting which has taken place independently in the General Assembly and in the Security Counci1, Mr. Mohamed Shahabuddeen, having received the necessary majority in both bodies, is elected a member of the International Court of Justice. I take this opportunity to extend to him the congratulations of the Assembly on his election. I thank the tellers for their c~operation. Mr. INSANALLY (Guyana): At the end of this very long day, I wish to express to you, Mr. President, my delegation's deep appreciation of your allowing the voting process to continue this evening - with, of course, the splendid result which we have just witnessed. I also wish to compliment you on your ready perception of this Assembly's wishes in these elections and your willingness to consult with the President of the Security Council, to whom we also owe a debt of gratitude. Your tolerance has been most impressive and justifies the faith which the members of the Assembly have placed in your presidency. I assure you of my own delegation's complete trust in your skills and of our readiness to co-operate with you as you continue to discharge your onerous responsibilities. May I also be allowed to thank all those colleagues who rallied to us in support of the momentum that we gained in the voting process this evening. We would like to think that, despite the lateness of the hour, the game, as the French would say, was worth the candle; or, perhaps, in more domestic parlance, worth any extra expenditure we might have incurred with Con Edison. My final word of gratitude, therefore, must be to the Secretariat and everyone else who saw us through these very critical hours to the end. Renewed thanks to you, Mr. President. The meeting rose at 10 p.m.