S/PV.10039 Security Council

The Security Council will now proceed to the election of one member of the International Court of Justice, in accordance with Article 14 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, to fill the seat that has become vacant following the resignation of Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf as a member of the Court, effective on 30 September 2025. I draw the attention of the members of the Council to document S/2025/606, which contains the names of the candidates nominated by national groups. The nominated candidates are as follows: Mr. Taoheed Olufemi Elias (Nigeria), Mr. Charles Chernor Jalloh (Sierra Leone), Mr. Paul Kuruk (Ghana) and Ms. Phoebe Okowa (Kenya). I should like to inform members of the Council that I have received a letter addressed to me by the Legal Counsel, dated 11 November 2025, informing me, on behalf of the Secretary-General, that after the established deadline for nominating candidates, namely, 24 September 2025, two national groups submitted additional nominations to the Secretariat. I should like to draw the Council’s attention to the fact that these nominations relate to a candidate already nominated by other national groups and whose name therefore already appears in document S/2025/606. The Legal Counsel recommended that, in accordance with established practice, I inform Council members orally on the day of the election about the decisions of the aforementioned national groups. I am also informed that the Legal Counsel made a similar recommendation to the President of the General Assembly. The nominations of the aforementioned national groups are as follows: for Mr. Taoheed Olufemi Elias (Nigeria), Bahrain and Latvia. The Security Council has before it a memorandum by the Secretary-General, contained in document S/2025/605, describing the present composition of the Court and setting out the procedure to be followed in the conduct of the election. I should like to remind the Council that, under Article 10, paragraph 1, of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, “Those candidates who obtain an absolute majority of votes both in the General Assembly and in the Security Council shall be considered as elected.” The required majority in the Security Council is eight votes. If, in the first ballot, no candidate receives an absolute majority, then pursuant to rule 61 of the provisional rules of procedure of the Security Council, a second The voting will be held by secret ballot. When we proceed to the vote, members of the Council will receive a ballot paper containing the names of the candidates. Any announcements, including those concerning withdrawals of candidatures, should be made prior to the commencement of the voting process, that is to say, before the announcement of the beginning of the voting process. No withdrawal will be accepted once the ballot papers have been distributed. However, it will be possible to withdraw between ballots. Members of the Council will be requested to place an “X” in the box next to the name of the candidate for whom they wish to vote. Members wishing to abstain should leave all boxes blank. Only the candidates whose names appear on the ballot are eligible for election. Therefore, a vote may only be cast for a candidate whose name appears on the ballot papers. If a ballot paper contains any notation other than a vote in favour of an eligible candidate, those notations will be disregarded. If a mistake is made in filling out the ballot paper, members should request a new ballot paper from the Secretariat. I should like to remind members of paragraph 14 of the Secretary-General’s memorandum, which specifies that “[e]ach elector may vote for only one candidate” (S/2025/605). Any ballot paper containing votes for more than one candidate will be considered invalid. I should like to inform Council members that, in accordance with established practice, the ballot papers in the Security Council will not be counted until it has been verified that the ballot papers in the General Assembly have also been collected. The Council will remain in session pending the receipt of that information. Only when a candidate has obtained the required majority of votes in the Security Council shall I communicate the result to the President of the General Assembly. I shall request the Council to remain in session pending the receipt from the President of the General Assembly of the result of the voting in the Assembly. The Council will now proceed to draw lots to select two delegations to serve as tellers. The delegation of Sierra Leone will not be considered to serve as a teller because a candidate of its nationality has been nominated. The names of the delegations of France and the United States of America have been drawn. I request each of them to appoint one of their members to serve as teller.

May I take it that the Council is now ready to proceed with the election of a member of the International Court of Justice?

I am informed that the General Assembly will be ready to proceed with the voting process shortly. I ask members to wait until the Assembly is ready. * * *

I am informed that the General Assembly is now ready to proceed with the voting process. I request the Conference Officer to distribute the ballot papers. I take it that all the members of the Council have now voted, and I ask the Conference Officer to collect the ballot papers. * * *

All the ballot papers have been collected. I should like to remind Council members that, in accordance with the established practice, the votes will not be counted until it has been verified that the ballot papers in the General Assembly have been collected. The Council will remain in session pending the receipt of that information. * * *

I have now been informed that the ballot papers have been collected in the General Assembly. The tellers will now begin the counting of the votes in the Security Council. As per practice, there will be two independent counts of the votes, one by each teller. I should like to remind Council members that, in accordance with established practice, I shall wait for the General Assembly to complete its count before I announce the results of the voting in the Security Council. The Council will remain in session. * * *

The result of the voting is as follows: Number of ballot papers: 15 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 15 Number of abstentions: 0 Required majority: 8 Number of votes obtained: Mr. Taoheed Olufemi Elias 3 Mr. Charles Chernor Jalloh 5 Mr. Paul Kuruk 1 Ms. Phoebe Okowa 6 As no candidate has received the required majority of votes in the Security Council, in accordance with Article 11 of the Statute of the Court, the Council will proceed to a second ballot to elect a member of the International Court of Justice. I wish to inform members that the voting in the General Assembly was also inconclusive and that the Assembly will proceed to a second ballot to elect a member of the International Court of Justice. May I take it that the Council is now ready to proceed with the election of a member of the International Court of Justice?

I am informed that the General Assembly will be ready to proceed with the voting process shortly. I ask members to wait until the Assembly is ready. * * *

I have been informed by the President of the General Assembly of the withdrawal of the candidature of Mr. Paul Kuruk. Therefore, Mr. Paul Kuruk is no longer a candidate in this election, and his name will not appear on the ballot paper. * * *

I am informed that the General Assembly is now ready to proceed with the voting process. I request the Conference Officer to distribute the ballot papers. Members of the Council should place an “X” in the box next to the name of the candidate for whom they wish to vote. Members wishing to abstain should leave all boxes blank. I take it that all members of the Council have now voted, and I ask the Conference Officer to collect the ballot papers. * * *

All the ballot papers have been collected. I should like to remind Council members that, in accordance with the established practice, the votes will not be counted until it has been verified that the ballot papers in the General Assembly have also been collected. The Council will remain in session pending the receipt of that information. * * *

I have now been informed that the ballot papers have been collected in the General Assembly. The tellers will now begin the counting of the votes in the Security Council. As per practice, there will be two independent counts of the votes, one by each teller. I should like to remind Council members that, in accordance with established practice, I shall wait for the General Assembly to complete its count before I announce the results of the voting in the Security Council. The Council will remain in session. * * *

I wish to inform the members that the voting in the Security Council was conclusive, while the voting in the General Assembly was inconclusive. The Council will therefore wait for the balloting process in the General Assembly to be completed. As soon as I receive notification from the President of the General Assembly that the candidate has received the required majority, I will announce the full result of the voting in the Council and Assembly. The Council will remain in session. * * *

The result of the voting is as follows: Number of ballot papers: 15 Number of invalid ballots: 0 Number of valid ballots: 15 Number of abstentions: 0 Required majority: 8 Number of votes obtained: Mr. Taoheed Olufemi Elias 1 Mr. Charles Chernor Jalloh 8 Ms. Phoebe Okowa 6 I should like to inform the members of the Council that I have just received from the President of the General Assembly the following letter: “I have the honour to inform you that, at the 36th plenary meeting of the General Assembly, held today for the purpose of electing a member of the International Court of Justice, the following candidate obtained an absolute majority of votes in the General Assembly: Phoebe Okowa (Kenya)”. As no candidate has received the required absolute majority of votes in both the Council and the General Assembly, in accordance with Article 11 of the Statute of the Court, the Council will hold a second meeting and will proceed to a third ballot to elect a member of the International Court of Justice. Accordingly, I shall adjourn this meeting of the Security Council, and I shall immediately call to order a second meeting of the Security Council to elect one candidate by further ballot, after a brief recess.