Countries and cases
- Cases
- Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain
- Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein
- Abdullah al-Senussi
- Ahmad Harun and Ali Kushayb
- Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi
- Al-Tuhamy Mohamed Khaled
- Bahar Idriss Abu Garda
- Bosco Ntaganda
- Callixte Mbarushimana
- Dominic Ongwen
- Germain Katanga
- Jean-Pierre Bemba (Bemba I)
- Jean-Pierre Bemba (Bemba II)
- Joseph Kony et. al.
- Laurent Gbagbo and Charles Blé Goudé
- Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui
- Omar al-Bashir
- Saif al-Islam Gadaffi
- Sylvestre Mudacumura
- Thomas Lubanga Dyilo
- Uhuru Kenyatta
- William Ruto and Joshua Sang
- Al Hassan Ag Abdoul Aziz Ag Mohamed Ag Mahmoud
- Alfred YekatomAnd Patrice-Edouard Ngaïssona
- Mahmoud Mustafa Busayf Al-Werfalli
- Countries
- Africa
- Angola
- Benin
- Botswana
- Burkina Faso
- Burundi
- Cameroon
- Cape Verde
- Central African Republic (I and II)
- Chad
- Comoros
- Congo Brazzaville
- Côte d'Ivoire
- Darfur, Sudan
- Democratic Republic of Congo
- Djibouti
- Equatorial Guinea
- Eritrea
- Ethiopia
- Gabon
- Gambia
- Ghana
- Guinea
- Guinea-Bissau
- Kenya
- Lesotho
- Liberia
- Madagascar
- Malawi
- Mali
- Mauritania
- Mauritius
- Mozambique
- Namibia
- Niger
- Nigeria
- Rwanda
- Sao Tome and Principe
- Senegal
- Seychelles
- Sierra Leone
- Somalia
- South Africa
- South Sudan
- Swaziland
- Tanzania
- Togo
- Uganda
- Zambia
- Zimbabwe
- Americas
- Antigua and Barbuda
- Argentina
- Barbados
- Belize
- Bolivia
- Brazil
- Canada
- Chile
- Colombia
- Costa Rica
- Cuba
- Dominica
- Dominican Republic
- Ecuador
- El Salvador
- Grenada
- Guatemala
- Guyana
- Haiti
- Honduras
- Jamaica
- Mexico
- Nicaragua
- Panama
- Paraguay
- Peru
- Saint Kitts and Nevis
- St. Lucia
- St. Vincent and the Grenadines
- Suriname
- The Bahamas
- Trinidad and Tobago
- United States
- Uruguay
- Venezuela
- Asia-Pacific
- Afghanistan
- Australia
- Bangladesh
- Bhutan
- Brunei
- Cambodia
- China
- Fiji
- India
- Indonesia
- Japan
- Kiribati
- Laos People's Democratic Republic
- Malaysia
- Micronesia
- Mongolia
- MyanmarNon-State Party
- Nepal
- New Zealand
- North Korea
- Pakistan
- Palau
- Republic of Korea
- Republic of Maldives
- Samoa
- Singapore
- Solomon Islands
- Sri Lanka
- Thailand
- The Philippines
- Timor-Leste
- Tonga
- Turkmenistan
- Tuvalu
- Vanuatu
- Vietnam
- Europe
- Albania
- Andorra
- Armenia
- Austria
- Azerbaijan
- Belarus
- Belgium
- Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Bulgaria
- Croatia
- Cyprus
- Czech Republic
- Denmark
- Estonia
- Finland
- France
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greece
- Hungary
- Iceland
- Ireland
- Italy
- Kazakhstan
- Kyrgyzstan
- Latvia
- Liechtenstein
- Lithuania
- Luxembourg
- Macedonia
- Malta
- Moldova
- Monaco
- Montenegro
- Norway
- Poland
- Portugal
- Romania
- Russia
- San Marino
- Serbia
- Slovakia
- Slovenia
- Spain
- Sweden
- Switzerland
- Tajikistan
- The Holy See / Vatican City
- The Netherlands
- Turkey
- Ukraine
- United Kingdom
- Uzbekistan
- MENA
- Africa
ICC JUDICIAL ELECTIONS 2020
2020: Elections for six new ICC judges
6 judicial vacancies | 9-year terms | 19th ASP session | New York, December 2020
At its nineteenth session in 2020, the Assembly of States Parties (ASP) will elect six judges to fill one-third of the International Criminal Court’s (ICC) 18 judicial seats. The judicial elections mark a pivotal moment for the ICC’s future as it looks towards an almost complete turnover of leadership at the 2020 session. Following the regular three-year election cycle, the six newly elected judges will each serve for a nine-year term from 2021-2030.
In electing new judges, it is significant that State Parties ensure a fully representative bench; in addition to judicial qualifications, states should take into account representation of the principal legal systems of the world, geographical representation and gender balance, and be “persons of high moral character, impartiality and integrity”.
The Coalition calls upon State Parties to nominate and elect only the most highly-qualified candidates, and not to engage in reciprocal political agreements (“vote-trading”) in any ICC/ASP election
Nominating and electing only the most highly-qualified judges
During the nomination period, State Parties, along with states that have started the process of ratification, may put forth candidates who are later assessed by the Advisory Committee on the Nomination of Judges (ACN). The ACN was created in 2011/2012 to facilitate the nomination and election of the most highly qualified judges, assessing candidates to determine whether or not they are qualified to serve on the bench of the ICC. The ACN puts out formal recommendations following their assessment of the candidates, published in a report in the weeks leading up to the elections.
While the Coalition as a whole does not endorse or oppose individual candidates, we strongly urge States Parties to give their full support to the work of the ACN and to pay due regard to its findings and recommendations.
Ensuring a Fully Representative Bench – the Minimum Voting Requirements (MVRs)
To ensure a fully representative bench, the election process accounts for the composition of the outgoing judges. The newly elected judges will fill the vacancies of the six outgoing judges, who will complete their own nine-year terms on 10 March 2021. 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)
- Judge Raul Cano Pangalangan (Philippines)
The Rome Statute outlines several considerations for a fully representative bench, including minimum criteria for geographic representation, gender balance, and representation of the principle legal systems of the world, not to mention expertise on specific and relevant legal issues. Another consideration in identifying judges are list A, which refers to nominees with criminal law expertise and experience, and list B, nominees with relevant international law expertise and experience.
These factors are taken into account through minimum voting requirements (MVR), which looks at the criteria of the judges remaining on the bench. During the 2020 election, the following MVRs will be in place:
- One candidate from Eastern Europe
- Two candidates from Latin America and the Caribbean
- One candidate from Asia-Pacific
- One candidate from list A
- One candidate from list B
- One female candidate
Judicial Candidates' questionnaires
Ahead of the 2020 elections, civil society organizations in cooperation with the Coalition for the ICC Secretariat asked judicial candidates to complete questionnaires regarding their vision, background, qualifications, experience and views on international justice and the ICC.
Read all about the candidates and their visions for international justice
TIMELINE of ICC Judicial Elections 2020
The elections are scheduled for the nineteenth session of the Assembly of States Parties, to be held at the United Nations, New York, from 7-17 December 2020.
- 18 December 2020 - The ASP elects Judge Joanna Korner (UK) and Mr. Gocha Lordkipanidze (Georgia). After the first two rounds of voting, 6 candidates are withdrawn from the race (Burkina Faso, Ecuador, Colombia, Congo, Nigeria, and Uruguay). See elections results HERE.
- 3-6 November 2020 - Public Roundtables for judicial candidates saw the 20 Judicial candidates responding questions posed by ICC States Parties and civil society. The hearings aim at shedding light on the candidates' qualifications and expertise. The recordings of the hearings are available on the ASP Website.
- September 2020 - On 30 September 2020 the ACN presented its final report on judicial candidates (Deadline was originally set for August, 16 weeks ahead of the date of the elections, and then moved due to the delays in the process related to Covid).
- July/August 2020 - The modalities for the public roundatables for judicial candidates are discussed by States Parties in the context of the New York facilitation mandated to review the procedure for nomination and elections of Judges at the ICC. The finalized modalities entail a co-moderation role for civil society.
- The judicial candidate from Bangladesh has been withdrawn; in accordance with ICC-ASP/3/Res. 6, Paragraph 20(b), there shall be no minimum voting requirements for the Asia-Pacific Group.
- The Judicial candidate from the Dominican Republic has been withdrawn.
- 14 May 2020 - The nomination period for judicial dandidate closes. At the end of the nomination period, 22 judicial candidates have been nominated.
- 14 candidates are nominated under List A, 8 under list B;
- 7 candidates from the African Group, 2 candidates for the Asia-Pacific Group, 2 candidates for the Eastern European Group, 8 candidates for the GRULAC Group, 3 candidates for the WEOG Group;
- 13 candidates are male, 9 are female;
- Further information on judicial candidates (CV, Statement of qualification, Note Verbale from nominating State) can be found on the ASP website. - April/May 2020 - The nomination period is extended twice by the ASP Bureau: first an emergency extension until 30th April, and a second extension until 14th May to meet the minimum requirements for judicial nomination.
- January 2020 - The nomination period for judicial candidates opens on 6th January, and is scheduled to run until 30th March.
- December 2019 - At its 18th Session, the Assembly of Staes Parties adopts Resolution ICC-ASP/18/Res.4. introducing substantive chages to the procedure for electing and nominating ICC Judges, and to the Role of the Advisory Committee on Nominations in the process.