A/78/PV.31 General Assembly

The General Assembly will now turn to the election of five members of the International Court of Justice for a nine-year term of office commencing on 6 February 2024. The judges whose terms of office expire on 5 February 2024 are Judge Joan Donoghue (United States of America); Judge Kirill Gevorgian (Russian Federation); Judge Mohamed Bennouna (Morocco); Judge Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica); and Judge Hilary Charlesworth (Australia). I should like to draw the Assembly’s attention to the following documents before the Assembly relating to the election: document A/78/97, which contains a memorandum by the Secretary-General on the present composition of the Court and the procedure to be followed in the General Assembly and in the Security Council with regard to the election; document A/78/98, which contains a note by the Secretary-General submitting the list of candidates nominated by national groups; and document A/78/99, which contains a note by the Secretary-General submitting the curricula vitae of the candidates nominated by national groups. The nominated candidates are as follows: Bogdan- Lucian Aurescu (Romania); Chaloka Beyani (Zambia); Hilary Charlesworth (Australia); Sarah Hull Cleveland (United States of America); Ahmed Amin Fathalla (Egypt); Kirill Gevorgian (Russian Federation); Juan Manuel Gómez Robledo Verduzco (Mexico); Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua (Democratic Republic of the Congo); and Dire Tladi (South Africa). I should like to inform members of the Assembly that the President of the General Assembly has received a letter addressed to him from the Legal Counsel, dated 8 November 2023, informing him, on behalf of the Secretary-General, that after the established deadline for nominating candidates, namely, 29 June 2023, seven national groups submitted nominations to the Secretariat. Those additional nominations relate to candidates already nominated by other national groups and whose names therefore already appear in document A/78/98. The nominations of the aforementioned national groups are as follows: for Bogdan-Lucian Aurescu (Romania): New Zealand; for Chaloka Beyani (Zambia): Morocco; for Hilary Charlesworth (Australia): Albania and the Philippines; for Sarah Hull Cleveland (United States of America): Albania, Costa Rica, Paraguay, the Philippines and Spain; for Ahmed Amin Fathalla (Egypt): Morocco; and for Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua (Democratic Republic of the Congo): Morocco and Spain. Accordingly, the names of the nine nominated candidates will appear on the ballot papers. I should like to confirm that at this time the General Assembly and the Security Council will proceed, independently of one another, to elect five members of the Court to fill the vacancies in accordance with Article 8 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice. The election will be held in accordance with the Statute of the Court, in particular Articles 2 to 4 and 7 to 12, and rules 150 and 151 of the rules of procedure of the General Assembly. Those candidates who obtain an absolute majority of votes both in the General Assembly and in the Security Council will be considered as elected, pursuant to Article 10, paragraph 1, of the Statute. The consistent practice of the United Nations has been to interpret the words “absolute majority” as meaning a majority of all electors, whether or not they vote or are allowed to vote. The electors in the General Assembly will be all 193 Member States. Accordingly, 97 votes constitute an absolute majority in the Assembly for the purpose of the present elections. Only those candidates whose names appear on the ballot papers are eligible for election. The electors in the General Assembly will indicate the candidates for whom they wish to vote by placing crosses against their names on the ballot papers. Each elector may vote for not more than five candidates on the first ballot and on subsequent ballots, if any, for five less the number of candidates who have already obtained an absolute majority. In accordance with Articles 5 and 7 of the Statute, no additional candidates may be nominated on the day of the election. At the 915th plenary meeting of the General Assembly, on 16 November 1960, a procedural discussion was held as to whether rule 94, which was then rule 96, of the rules of procedure of the Assembly should be applied in elections to the International Court of Justice. That rule lays down a procedure for restricted ballots in the event that after the first ballot, the requisite number of candidates have not obtained the required majority. By 47 votes to 27, with 25 abstentions, the Assembly decided that the rule did not apply to elections to the Court and proceeded to elect the requisite number of candidates by a series of unrestricted ballots. That decision has been followed consistently. Accordingly, if in the first ballot in either the General Assembly or the Security Council, the number of candidates obtaining an absolute majority is fewer than five, a second ballot will be held, and balloting will continue at the same meeting until five candidates have obtained the required majority, pursuant to rule 151 of the rules of procedure of the Assembly. If, however, in the first or subsequent ballots, more than five candidates obtain an absolute majority, the General Assembly shall follow the established practice and proceed to a new vote on all the candidates. Balloting will continue in the same manner until only five of the candidates have obtained the required majority. Only when five candidates, not more or fewer, have obtained the required majority in the Assembly will the President of the Assembly notify the President of the Security Council of the names of the five candidates. Upon the exchange of notifications between the General Assembly and the Security Council informing each other that the same candidates have received the absolute majority in both the General Assembly and the Security Council, each organ will announce that the candidates have been elected. If, upon comparison of the respective lists of candidates who have obtained an absolute majority in the General Assembly and in the Security Council, fewer than five candidates have been thus elected, the Assembly and the Council will proceed, again independently of one another, at a second meeting and, if necessary, a third meeting to elect candidates by further ballots for the seats remaining vacant, pursuant to Article 11 of the Statute, the results again being compared after the required number of candidates have obtained an absolute majority in each organ. May I take it that the General Assembly agrees to these procedures at this election?

I should like to remind representatives that pursuant to rule 88 of the rules of procedure, “After the President has announced the beginning of voting, no representative shall interrupt the voting except on a point of order in connection with the actual conduct of the voting”. Any announcements including, if any, those concerning withdrawals of candidatures should therefore be made prior to the commencement of the voting process, that is to say, before the announcement of the beginning of the voting process. We shall now begin the voting process. Ballot papers will now be distributed. Ballot papers will be given only to the representative seated directly behind the country’s nameplate. Representatives are requested to use only the ballot papers that are now being distributed. Only those candidates whose names appear on the ballot papers are eligible for election. Representatives will indicate no more than five candidates for whom they wish to vote by placing a cross at the left of the name on the ballot paper. Ballot papers on which more than five names are checked will be considered invalid. A blank ballot paper will be considered an abstention. If a ballot paper contains any notation other than votes in favour of specific eligible candidates, those notations will be disregarded. If a mistake is made in filling out the ballot paper, delegations should request a new ballot paper from the Secretariat at the front of the General Assembly Hall.

I would like to inform members that the secret ballot in the General Assembly was conclusive but the secret ballot in the Security Council was not conclusive. The General Assembly will therefore suspend the meeting until the Security Council completes its balloting and procures exactly five candidates. As soon as I receive from the President of the Security Council the names of the five candidates who received the required majority, I shall resume the meeting and announce the results of the voting in the General Assembly and the Security Council.

The result of the voting is as follows: Number of ballot papers: 192 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 192 Abstentions: 0 Number of members present and voting: 192 Absolute majority: 97 Number of individual votes obtained: Juan Manuel Gómez Robledo Verduzco (Mexico) 143 Sarah Hull Cleveland (United States of America) 135 Bogdan-Lucian Aurescu (Romania) 117 Hilary Charlesworth (Australia) 117 Dire Tladi (South Africa) 113 Chaloka Beyani (Zambia) 81 Ahmed Amin Fathalla (Egypt) 81 Kirill Gevorgian (Russian Federation) 77 Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua (Democratic Republic of the Congo) 65

I have communicated the result of the voting to the President of the Security Council. I have received from the President of the Security Council the following letter: “I have the honour to inform you that at the 9471st meeting of the Security Council, held on 9 November 2023 for the purpose of electing five members of the International Court of Justice for a term of office beginning on 6 February 2024, Bogdan-Lucian Aurescu (Romania), Hilary Charlesworth (Australia), Sarah Hull Cleveland (United States of America), Juan Manuel Gómez Robledo Verduzco (Mexico) and Dire Tladi (South Africa) obtained an absolute majority of votes in the Security Council”. As a result of the voting that has taken place independently in the General Assembly and the Security Council, the following five candidates have obtained an absolute majority in both bodies: Bogdan-Lucian Aurescu (Romania), Hilary Charlesworth (Australia), Sarah Hull Cleveland (United States of America), Juan Manuel Gómez Robledo Verduzco (Mexico) and Dire Tladi (South Africa). They are therefore duly elected members of the International Court of Justice to serve for a nine-year term commencing 6 February 2024. I take this opportunity to extend to them the congratulations of the Assembly on their election and to thank the tellers for their assistance. I give the floor to the representative of Uganda on a point of order.

While congratulating all the members that have been elected, I wish to seek some clarification, because, as I understand it, we have had one round of voting in the General Assembly, and there were quite a number of rounds in the Security Council. Article 8 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice states that: “The General Assembly and the Security Council shall proceed independently of one another to elect the members of the Court.” Some interpretations have indicated that the voting in both bodies must take place simultaneously. However, in a situation where the Council held several rounds, the voting does not seem to have been simultaneous. Our understanding would be that when there is no concurrence, all of them have to go back to the drawing board, as it were. We seek clarification, short of seeking a judicial interpretation, of this matter, but we are in the hands of the presidency. Once again I wish to congratulate all the candidates who have been elected; many of them are friends and colleagues in various quarters, and that makes us very happy.

The representative of Uganda will appreciate that on the date of an election, the General Assembly and the Security Council are to proceed, as is set out in the rules of procedure of the General Assembly and of the Security Council, independently of one another, to elect members of the Court to fill vacancies, per Article 8 of the Statute. Accordingly, the voting in each body is conducted separately; that is the procedure. There are not simultaneous multiple rounds of voting in both bodies; each body conducts the voting separately. I might add that when both the Security Council and the General Assembly are said to be conducting the voting independently, it suggests that each body is making its own decision without being influenced by the other’s vote or outcome. That is to ensure that both bodies can express their opinions and exercise their respective mandates without undue pressure or interference. That is the rationale for that procedure. I hope that response allays the concern of the representative of Uganda. This concludes our consideration of sub-item (c) of agenda item 113.