S/PV.8292 Security Council

The Security Council will now proceed to the election of one member of the International Court of Justice, in accordance with Article 13 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice, to fill the seat that has become vacant following the resignation of Judge Hisashi Owada as a member of the Court, effective on 7 June 2018. I draw the attention of the Council to document S/2018/488, which contains the name of the candidate nominated by national groups: Mr. Yuji Iwasawa (Japan). I should like to inform members of the Council that I have received a letter addressed to me by the Legal Counsel, dated 20 June 2018, informing me, on behalf of the Secretary-General, that after the established deadline for nominating candidates, namely, 16 May 2018, the national groups of Slovenia and Paraguay submitted additional nominations to the Secretariat. I should like to draw the Council’s attention to the fact that those nominations relate to the candidate already nominated by other national groups and whose name therefore already appears in document S/2018/488. The Legal Counsel recommended that, in accordance with established practice, I inform Council members orally on the day of the election about the decision 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 nomination of the aforementioned national groups is as follows: for Mr. Yuji Iwasawa, Slovenia and Paraguay. The Security Council has before it a memorandum by the Secretary-General, contained in document S/2018/487, 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 in either the General Assembly or the Security Council, the candidate does not receive an absolute majority, then pursuant to rule 61 of the provisional rules of procedure of the Security Council, a second ballot will be held. Balloting will continue in the same meeting until the candidate has obtained the absolute majority of votes. The voting will be held by secret ballot. When we proceed to the vote, members of the Council will receive a ballot containing the name of the candidate. 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 if they wish to vote for the candidate. If the members do not wish to vote for this candidate, they should leave the box blank. Only the candidate whose name appears on the ballot is eligible for election. Therefore, votes may be cast only for the candidate whose name appears on the ballot papers. 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, and 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 names of the delegations of France and Sweden 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? It is so decided. 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, if they wish to vote for the candidate. * * *

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 ballots 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 counting of the ballots in the Security Council will now begin. The tellers will now count the ballots. As per practice, there will be two independent countings of the ballots, 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. Yuji Iwasawa 15 Accordingly, the candidate, Mr. Yuji Iwasawa, received the required majority of votes in the Security Council. I have communicated the result of the vote to the President of the General Assembly in writing. 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: (spoke in English) “I have the honour to inform you that, at the 97th plenary meeting of the General Assembly, held today for the purpose of electing a member of the International Court of Justice, Mr. Yuji Iwasawa obtained an absolute majority of votes in the General Assembly.” (spoke in Russian) As the candidate, Mr. Yuji Iwasawa, received the required majority both in the Security Council and the General Assembly, he is therefore duly elected as a member of the International Court of Justice for a term beginning today, 22 June 2018, until 5 February 2021. I should like to congratulate him and wish him every success in the high office to which he has been elected. On behalf of the Council, I would like to thank the tellers for their assistance in the conduct of the elections. The Security Council has thus concluded its consideration of the item on its agenda.