Six judges of the International Criminal Court were elected during the 22nd session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court held from 4 to 14 December 2023 in New York. The judges were elected for terms of nine years and took office on 11 March 2024.
Background The judges elected at this session replaced six judges who had been elected in 2014 for full nine-year terms. The newly elected judges will serve for nine years until 2033.
The election was governed by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Its article 36(8)(a) states that "[t]he States Parties shall, in the selection of judges, take into account the need, within the membership of the Court, for: (i) The representation of the principal legal systems of the world; (ii) Equitable geographical representation; and (iii) A fair representation of female and male judges."
Furthermore, article 36(3)(b) and 36(5) provide for two lists: List A contains those judges that "[h]ave established competence in criminal law and procedure, and the necessary relevant experience, whether as judge, prosecutor, advocate or in other similar capacity, in criminal proceedings"; List B contains those who "[h]ave established competence in relevant areas of international law such as international humanitarian law and the law of human rights, and extensive experience in a professional legal capacity which is of relevance to the judicial work of the Court".
Each candidate has to belong to exactly one list. A minimum of nine judges elected from list A and five judges elected from list B is to be maintained on the court.
Further rules of election were adopted by a resolution of the Assembly of States Parties in 2004.
Judges remaining in office The following judges were scheduled to remain in office beyond 2024:
JudgeNationality List A or B Regional criteria Gender List A List B African Asian E. European GRULAG WEOG Female Male Reine Alapini-Gansou X X X Solomy Balungi Bossa X X X Miatta Maria Samba X X X Tomoko Akane X X X Gocha Lordkipanidze X X X Althea Violet Alexis-Windsor X X X María del Socorro Flores Liera X X X Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza X X X Sergio Gerardo Ugalde Godínez X X X Rosario Salvatore Aitala X X X Joanna Korner X X X Kimberly Prost X X X 8 4 3 1 1 4 3 9 3
Nomination process The nomination period of judges for the 2023 election lasted from 2 January to 26 March 2023. It was extended three times (the maximal number of extensions), to 9 April, to 23 April and finally to 7 May, because the required number of four Asian candidates had not been nominated. The final extension also did not result in this requirement being fulfilled. The following persons were nominated:
CandidateNationality List A or B Regional criteria Gender List A List B African Asian E. European GRULAG WEOG Female Male Haykel Ben Mahfoudh X X X Erdenebalsuren Damdin X X X X X X Nicolas Guillou X X X Beti Hohler X X X X X X Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska X X X Iulia Antoanella Motoc X X X Clarence Nelson X X X Keebong Paek X X X X X X Andriamanankadrianana Rajaona X X X X X X 11 2 3 3 5 0 2 5 8
Minimum voting requirements Minimum voting requirements governed part of the election. This was to ensure that articles 36(5) and 36(8)(a) cited above were fulfilled. For this election, the following minimum voting requirements applied initially:
Criterion Number of judges required Number of judges remaining in office Ex ante voting requirement Number of candidates Adjusted voting requirement Adjusted voting requirement equals ex ante?Lists A or B List A 9 8 1 11 1 List B 5 4 1 2 1 Regional criteria African 3 3 0 3 0 Asian 3 1 2 3 2 Eastern European 3 1 2 5 2 Latin American and Caribbean 3 4 0 0 0 Western European and other 3 3 0 2 0 Gender criteria Female 6 9 0 5 0 Male 6 3 3 8 3
Regarding the List A or B requirement, one vote had to be cast for a List A candidate and one for a List B candidate.
Regarding the regional criteria, four votes had to be cast for certain regional groups: two for Asian candidates and two for Eastern European candidates.
Regarding the gender criteria, three votes had to be cast for male candidates.
The minimum voting requirements are updated after each ballot to account for the judges already elected. The regional and gender requirements are dropped either if they can no longer be (jointly) fulfilled, or if after four ballots not all seats are filled. The List A or B requirement remains active until a sufficient number of judges has been elected from each list.
Ballots The ballot results were as follows:
CandidateNationality4 December 20235 December 20236 December 2023 1st ballot 2nd ballot 3rd ballot 4th ballot 5th ballot 6th ballot 7th ballot 8th ballot 9th ballot 10th ballot 11th ballot Valid votes cast 114 117 116 121 123 123 120 123 119 122 122 Two-thirds majority 76 78 78 81 82 82 80 82 80 82 82 Erdenebalsuren Damdin elected Iulia Antoanella Motoc elected Nicolas Guillou elected Beti Hohler elected Haykel Ben Mahfoudh elected Keebong Paek Clarence Nelson withdrawn Andriamanankadrianana Rajaona withdrawn withdrawn Mirjana Lazarova Trajkovska withdrawn withdrawn withdrawn
The minimum voting requirements are imposed on the ballots cast, not on the results. Thus, there is no guarantee that a corresponding number of judges is elected. However, in this election this was the case:
Criterion Initial minimal voting requirement Corresponding number of judges elected? List A 1 List B 1 Asian 2 Eastern European 2 Male 3
Note that the minimum voting requirements according to region and gender were dropped after the 4th ballot and were thus no longer being imposed when a second Asian, second Eastern European and third male judge were elected in the 11th, 8th and 10th ballot, respectively.
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