The 2023 International Court of Justice election was held on 9 November 2023 [1][2] at the United Nations Headquarters in New York City.
Judges are required to be independent and impartial; they may not exercise any political or administrative function, and do not act as a representative of their home state.
Prior to the election, the composition of the Court was as follows: Article 2 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice provides that judges shall be elected "from among persons of high moral character, who possess the qualifications required in their respective countries for appointment to the highest judicial offices, or are jurisconsults of recognized competence in international law".
Nominations of candidates for election to the ICJ are made by a group consisting of the members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), designated by that State.
According to the ICJ Statute, if after the third meeting, one or more seats still remain unfilled, the General Assembly and the Security Council may form a joint conference consisting of six members, three appointed by each organ.
If the joint conference is unanimously agreed, it may submit the name of a person not included in the list of nominations, provided that candidate fulfills the required conditions of eligibility to be a judge on the ICJ.
[1] Other candidates in the fray, who were not elected were Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua (Democratic Republic of the Congo); Ahmed Amin Fathalla (Egypt); Kirill Gevorgian (Russia); and Chaloka Beyani (Zambia).
[1] Russia's Gevorgian lost out his post to Romania's Aurescu, marking the first time in history that the USSR/Russia would not be represented at the ICJ.