2017 International Criminal Court judges election

Six judges of the International Criminal Court were elected during the 16th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court held from 4 to 14 December 2017 in New York. The judges were elected for terms of nine years and took office on 11 March 2018.

Background

The judges elected at this session replaced six judges elected in 2009 for terms lasting until 2018; they will also serve for nine years until 2027.

The election was governed by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Its article 36(8)(a) states that "[t]he States Parties shall, in the selection of judges, take into account the need, within the membership of the Court, for:

• (i) The representation of the principal legal systems of the world;
• (ii) Equitable geographical representation; and
• (iii) A fair representation of female and male judges."

Furthermore, article 36(3)(b) and 36(5) provide for two lists:

• List A contains those judges that "[h]ave established competence in criminal law and procedure, and the necessary relevant experience, whether as judge, prosecutor, advocate or in other similar capacity, in criminal proceedings";
• List B contains those who "[h]ave established competence in relevant areas of international law such as international humanitarian law and the law of human rights, and extensive experience in a professional legal capacity which is of relevance to the judicial work of the Court".

Each candidate has to belong to exactly one list. A minimum of nine judges elected from list A and five judges elected from list B is to be maintained on the court.

Further rules of election were adopted by a resolution of the Assembly of States Parties in 2004.

Judges remaining in office

The following judges were scheduled to remain in office beyond 2018:

Judge

Nationality

List A or B

Regional criteria

Gender

List A

List B

African

Asian

E. European

GRULAG

WEOG

Female

Male

Chile Eboe-Osuji

Nigeria

X

X

X

Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua

Democratic Republic of the Congo

X

X

X

Chung Chang-ho

South Korea

X

X

X

Raul Cano Pangalangan

Philippines

X

X

X

Robert Fremr

Czech Republic

X

X

X

Piotr Hofmański

Poland

X

X

X

Péter Kovács

Hungary

X

X

X

Geoffrey A. Henderson

Trinidad and Tobago

X

X

X

Olga Venecia Herrera Carbuccia

Dominican Republic

X

X

X

Howard Morrison

United Kingdom

X

X

X

Marc Perrin de Brichambaut

France

X

X

X

Bertram Schmitt

Germany

X

X

X

8

4

2

2

3

2

3

1

11

Nomination process

The nomination period of judges for the 2017 election lasted from 24 April to 16 July 2017. It was extended three times (the maximal number of extensions), to 30 July, to 13 August and finally to 27 August, because the required number of ten female candidates had not been nominated. The final extension also did not result in this requirement being fulfilled. The following persons were nominated:

Candidate

Nationality

List A or B

Regional criteria

Gender

List A

List B

African

Asian

E. European

GRULAG

WEOG

Female

Male

Rosario Salvatore Aitala

Italy

X

X

X

Tomoko Akane

Japan

X

X

X

Reine Alapini-Gansou

Benin

X

X

X

Solomy Balungi Bossa

Uganda

X

X

X

Zlata Đurđević

Croatia

X

X

X

Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza

Peru

X

X

X

Khosbayar Chagdaa

Mongolia

X

X

X

Nthomeng Justina Majara

Lesotho

X

X

X

Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu

Ghana

X

X

X

Ariela Peralta Distéfano

Uruguay

X

X

X

Kimberly Prost

Canada

X

X

X

Dragomir Vukoje

Bosnia and Herzegovina

X

X

X

9

3

4

2

2

2

2

9

3

Minimum voting requirements

Minimum voting requirements governed part of the election. This was to ensure that articles 36(5) and 36(8)(a) cited above were fulfilled. For this election, the following minimum voting requirements applied initially:

Criterion	Number of judges required	Number of judges remaining in office	Ex ante voting requirement	Number of candidates	Adjusted voting requirement	Adjusted voting requirement equals ex ante?
Lists A or B
List A	9	8	1	9	1	Yes
List B	5	4	1	3	1	Yes
Regional criteria
African	3	2	1	4	1	Yes
Asian	3	2	1	2	1	Yes
Eastern European	3	3	0	2	0	Yes
Latin American and Caribbean	3	2	1	2	1	Yes
Western European and other	3	3	0	2	0	Yes
Gender criteria
Female	6	1	5	9	5	Yes
Male	6	11	0	3	0	Yes

Regarding the List A or B requirement, one vote had to be cast for a List A candidate and one for a List B candidate.

Regarding the regional criteria, three votes had to be cast for certain regional groups: one for an African candidate, one for an Asian candidate and one for a Latin American or Caribbean candidate.

Regarding the gender criteria, five votes had to be cast for female candidates.

The regional and gender requirements could have been adjusted before the election depending on the number of candidates, pursuant to paragraphs 20 (b) and (c) of the resolution that governs the elections.

The minimum voting requirements are updated after each ballot to account for the judges already elected. The regional and gender requirements are dropped either if they can no longer be (jointly) fulfilled, or if after four ballots not all seats are filled. The List A or B requirement remains active until a sufficient number of judges has been elected from each list.

Ballots

The ballot results were as follows:

Candidate	Nationality	4 December 2017		5 December 2017					6 December 2017
		1st ballot	2nd ballot	3rd ballot	4th ballot	5th ballot	6th ballot	7th ballot	8th ballot	9th ballot
Valid votes cast		109	118	119	120	122	122	122	123	123
Two-thirds majority		73	79	80	80	82	82	82	82	82
Tomoko Akane	Japan	88	elected
Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza	Peru	77	elected
Reine Alapini-Gansou	Benin	66	70	77	83	elected
Solomy Balungi Bossa	Uganda	67	71	78	81	elected
Kimberly Prost	Canada	66	67	72	74	76	92	elected
Rosario Salvatore Aitala	Italy	55	53	57	56	45	63	77	77	84
Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu	Ghana	49	52	57	60	42	45	45	46	39
Zlata Đurđević	Croatia	59	51	51	49	37	36	withdrawn
Ariela Peralta Distefano	Uruguay	61	52	40	39	17	withdrawn
Nthomeng Justina Majara	Lesotho	37	35	33	30	22	withdrawn
Khosbayar Chagdaa	Mongolia	24	15	7	withdrawn
Dragomir Vukoje	Bosnia and Herzegovina	3	3	withdrawn

The minimum voting requirements are imposed on the ballots cast, not on the results. Thus, there is no guarantee that a corresponding number of judges is elected. However, in this election this was the case:

Criterion	Initial minimal voting requirement	Corresponding number of judges elected?
List A	1	Yes, after 1st ballot
List B	1	Yes, after 4th ballot
African	1	Yes, after 4th ballot
Asian	1	Yes, after 1st ballot
Latin American and Caribbean	1	Yes, after 1st ballot
Female	5	Yes, after 6th ballot

Note that the minimum voting requirement according to gender was dropped after the 4th ballot and was thus no longer being imposed when a fifth female judge was elected in the 6th ballot.