With a record 24 contentious cases crowding its docket, the International Court of Justice required multiple rounds of voting at United Nations headquarters to finalize its new slate of judges. A diplomatic stalemate between the General Assembly and the Security Council held up the fifth and final seat until Ecuador’s candidate, Marcelo Vazquez-Bermudez, withdrew from the race, clearing the way for Kenya’s Phoebe Okowa to secure the necessary majority across both bodies.
Okowa will be joined on the 15-member bench by Dapo Akande of the United Kingdom, Francois Alabrune of France, Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan, and Rena Lee of Singapore. Candidates must win an absolute majority in both UN chambers through concurrent secret ballots. Under the court's staggered system, a third of the bench is renewed every three years to preserve continuity, with the newly elected jurists scheduled to begin their nine-year terms on February 6, 2027.
The election comes at a demanding juncture for the UN’s principal judicial organ. In late October, ICJ President Yuji Iwasawa told the General Assembly that the Hague-based court is managing an unprecedented caseload, spanning border disputes, human rights claims, and treaty interpretation. Among the most prominent is South Africa’s lawsuit accusing Israel of violating the Genocide Convention in Gaza, where the court has indicated provisional measures while deliberations on the core allegations continue.
While the newly chosen judges will not assume office until early 2027, the current bench faces imminent decisions on long-standing disputes. Alongside its advisory work and ongoing territory disputes, the court is set to deliver a judgment on November 19 in The Gambia’s case accusing Myanmar of genocide against the Rohingya minority.