S/PV.9922 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 became vacant following the resignation of Judge Nawaf Salam as a member of the Court, effective 14 January 2025. I draw the attention of the members of the Council to document S/2025/235, which contains the name of the candidate nominated by national groups, namely, Mr. Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud (Jordan). The Security Council has before it a memorandum by the Secretary-General, contained in document S/2025/234, 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 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 voting, members of the Council will receive a ballot paper containing the name of the candidate. 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, if they wish to vote for the candidate. Members wishing to abstain should leave the box blank. Only the candidate whose name appears on the ballot is eligible for election. Therefore, votes may only be cast for the candidate whose name appears on the ballot papers. If a ballot paper contains any notation other than a vote in favour of the 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. 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 names of the delegations of Sierra Leone and the United States 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 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. 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 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 counting of the votes in the Security Council will now begin. The tellers will now count the votes. 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. * * * 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. Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud15 Accordingly, the candidate Mr. Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud (Jordan) received the required majority of votes in the Security Council. I have communicated the result of the voting to the President of the General Assembly in writing. I should like to inform the members of the Council that I just received from the President of the General Assembly the following letter: “I have the honour to inform you that, at the 70th 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: Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud (Jordan).” As the candidate Mr. Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud received the required majority both in the Security Council and the General Assembly, he is duly elected as a member of the International Court of Justice for a term beginning today, 27 May 2025, and ending on 5 February 2027. 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.