An ordinary election for the first full bench of 18 judges of the International Criminal Court was held during the first resumption of the 1st session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in New York between 3 and 7 February 2003.
The election was governed by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.
Following the rules, the nomination period of judges for the 2003 election lasted from 9 September to 30 November 2002.
Regarding the gender criteria, there was a minimum voting requirement for six female and six male judges.
Lots were drawn to assign the 18 elected judges to the different initial term lengths as follows:[1]