During the New York segment of the 19th ASP session, States Parties elected six new judges out of the 18 that compose the ICC bench. The election follows the Court’s regular judicial elections process, which replaces a third of the 18 judges every three years. The new judges will serve a nine-year term expected to begin in March 2021.

Judicial candidates can be put forward by States Parties along with states that have started the process of ratification of the Rome Statute of the ICC. In assessing the individual candidacies, the ASP is assisted by an Advisory Committee on the Nomination of Judges (ACN), that produces an assessment of the candidates, based on a wide variety of information submitted by the nominating states, the candidates themselves, and civil society. The report of the Advisory Committee was released on 30 September 2020. 

For the first time, the Assembly of States Parties organized public hearings, or roundtables, for judicial candidates, co-moderated by States Parties and civil society. Public roundtables for judicial candidates were previously organized by the Coalition for the International Criminal Court.  Ms Mariana Pena of the open Society Justice Initiative (OSJI) and Mr. Allan Ngari of the Institute for Security Studies (ISS) co-moderated the hearings on behalf of civil society.

The Rome Statute outlines several considerations for a fully representative bench, including minimum criteria for geographic representation, gender balance, and representation of the principal legal systems of the world, in addition to the expertise on specific and relevant legal issues. A fundamental consideration in electing judges is the differentiation between List A, which refers to nominees with criminal law expertise and experience, and List B, which refers to nominees with relevant international law expertise and experience. These factors are taken into account through minimum voting requirements (MVRs), which apply throughout the different rounds of voting until the vacancies have been filled or until they are discontinued after a certain number of rounds.

The following MVRs were in place in 2020*:

• One candidate from List A;
• One candidate from List B;
• One candidate from the Group of Eastern European States;
• Two candidates from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States;
• One female candidate.

*The MVRs for the 2020 elections included originally one candidate from the Group of Asia-Pacific States. The requirement has been discontinued after the withdrawal of the candidate from Bangladesh, which left only one competing candidate for the regional group –the candidate from Mongolia.

Round 1

The voting started on 18 December with 18 candidates, following the withdrawal of 4 candidates shortly before the start of voting. 

In the first round of voting, Judge Joanna Korner (United Kingdom) was elected with 85 votes, fulfilling the MVR of one female candidate. 

Round 2

In the second round of voting, Mr. Gocha Lordkipanidze (Georgia) was elected with 76 votes, fulfilling the MVR of one candidate from the Group of Eastern European States.

Round 3

In the third round of voting, held on 21 December, Ms. Miatta Maria Samba (Sierra Leone) was elected with 83 votes.

Round 4

In the fourth round of voting Ms. Maria del Socorro Flores Liera (Mexico) and Mr. Sergio Ugalde Godinez (Costa Rica) were both elected with 87 votes, fulfillingthe MVR of two candidates from the Group of Latin American and Caribbean States. 

Round 5, 6 and 7

In the fifth and sixth rounds of voting held on 22 December, with six and four candidates competing, respectively, no judge was elected. 

According to the ASP procedures and practice, a cut-off mechanism kicks in after the fourth round of voting: the candidate having received the lowest number of votes is automatically removed from the subsequent ballot. Exceptions may apply. More information can be found in the ASP «Informal guide and commentary to the procedure for the nomination and election of judges of the ICC».

In the seventh round of voting, held on 23 December, no judge was elected.

Round 8

In the eighth round of voting, Ms. Althea Violet Alexis-Windsor (Trinidad and Tobago) was elected with 86 votes filling the last judicial vacancy. 

The six newly elected judges are: 

Ms Joanna KORNER (UK) (List A)
Civil society Questionnaire
ACN Questionnaire + Declaration from candidate
Curriculum vitae 

Mr Gocha LORDKIPANIDZE (Georgia) (List B)
Civil society Questionnaire
ACN Questionnaire + Declaration from candidate
Curriculum vitae 

Ms Miatta Maria SAMBA (Sierra leone) (list A)
Civil society Questionnaire
ACN Questionnaire + Declaration from candidate
Curriculum vitae 

Ms maria del Socorro FLORES LIERA (Mexico) (List B)
Civil society Questionnaire
ACN Questionnaire + Declaration from candidate
Curriculum vitae 

Mr Sergio Gerardo UGALDE GODINEZ (Costa Rica) (List B)
Civil society Questionnaire
ACN Questionnaire + Declaration from candidate
Curriculum vitae 

Ms Althea Violet ALEXIS-WINDSOR (Trinidad & Tobago) (List A)
Civil society Questionnaire
ACN Questionnaire + Declaration from candidate
Curriculum vitae

The outgoing judges are:  Judge Chile Eboe-Osuji (Nigeria) (ICC President); Judge Robert Fremr (Czech Republic) (ICC First Vice President); Judge Howard Morrison (United Kingdom); Judge Olga Herrera-Carbuccia (Dominican Republic); Judge Geoffrey Henderson (Trinidad and Tobago); and Judge Raul Cano Pangalangan (Philippines).

The remaining judges, in addition to the six newly elected, are:  Judge Chang-ho Chung (Republic of Korea); Judge Piotr Hofmanski (Poland); Judge Bertram Schmitt (Germany); Judge Péter Kováck (Hungary); Judge Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua (Democratic Republic of Congo); Judge Marc Perrin De Brichambaut (France) (ICC Second Vice President); Judge Tomoko Akane (Japan); Judge Luz del Carmen Ibanez-Carranza (Peru); Judge Solomy Balungi Bossa (Uganda); Judge Kimberly Prost (Canada); Judge Rosario Aitala (Italy); and Judge Reine Alapini-Gansou (Benin).