Judge Dalveer Bhandari re-elected to ICJ, Swaraj hails achievement

Tweeting the results, Indian Ambassador to the United Nations, Syed Akbaruddin said, "A vote that brings cheer to a billion India's nominee Judge Bhandari re-elected to ICJ General Assembly 183 Security Council 15."

Hailing the results, India's External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted, "Congratulations to Justice Dalveer Bhandari on his re-election as a Judge of the ICJ. Huge efforts by Team - MEA. Syed Akbaruddin @AkbaruddinIndia our Permanent Representative in UN deserves a special mention."

Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, a permanent member of the UN, had to withdraw its candidate, Christopher Greenwood.

The move is viewed by commentators as a setback for the Security Council.

The Indian judge filled the 15th and the last seat of IJC, as UK went without a seat for the first time in 71 years.

Matthew Rycroft, the UK’s permanent representative at the UN", said in his letter, "The current deadlock is unlikely to be broken by further rounds of voting.

“We have therefore consulted our candidate, Sir Christopher Greenwood, who has confirmed that his candidature for re-election to the international court of justice should be withdrawn.

“In taking this step, we have borne in mind the close relationship that the United Kingdom and India have always enjoyed and will continue to enjoy, and the fact that both candidates fulfil the requirements for election and have already served the court diligently with impartiality and independence.”

The letter added that had voting been stalemated again, there is a mechanism for resolving disputes – a joint conference between the UN security council and general assembly - but it acknowledged that “some thought needs to be given to this procedure before the next ICJ election in order that it might be used when it is clearly needed”.

He added: “The UK has concluded that it is wrong to continue to take up the valuable time of the security council and the UN general assembly with further rounds of elections.

“The UK congratulates the successful candidates, including Judge Bhandari of India. We are naturally disappointed, but it was a competitive field with six strong candidates.

“If the UK could not win in this runoff, then we are pleased that it is a close friend like India that has done so instead. We will continue to cooperate closely with India, here in the United Nations and globally.”

Bhandari joins Ronny Abraham of France, Chaloka Beyani (Zambia), Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade (Brazil), Nawaf Salam (Lebanon), and Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (Somalia) as the five judges who will serve along with ten other judges at the ICJ.

Their nine-year terms begin 6 February 2018.

The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected by an absolute majority in both the General Assembly and Security Council. Five seats come up for election every three years. There is no bar on consecutive ter

Established in 1945, and based in The Hague in the Netherlands, the ICJ – informally known as the ‘World Court’ – settles legal disputes between States and gives advisory opinions on legal questions that have been referred to it by other authorized UN organs.

The election of the first members of the World Court took place on 6 February 1946, at the first session of the UN General Assembly and Security Council.

Image: UN Photo/Rick Bajornas