NEW YORK, United States / RankWire.AI / – Five judges have won seats on the International Court of Justice after voting in the UN General Assembly and Security Council on November 3. Dapo Akande of the United Kingdom, François Alabrune of France and Rena Lee of Singapore will join the court. Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan and Phoebe Okowa of Kenya were re-elected. Their nine-year terms begin on February 6, 2027.
Four of the five were elected in the first round after securing absolute majorities in both bodies, UN press releases said. Lee topped the General Assembly vote with 151 votes, followed by Alabrune with 146, Akande with 129 and Hmoud with 106. In the Security Council, Alabrune and Lee each received 13 votes, while Akande won 11 and Hmoud 10. A majority required 97 votes in the Assembly and eight in the Council.
Okowa secured the fifth seat in a third round of voting after the second round produced no winner. Okowa had received 117 votes in the first General Assembly round. She received 183 votes in the General Assembly and 13 in the Security Council in the final round. Nine candidates contested the election. Candidates from Sierra Leone, South Korea and Ecuador withdrew before or during the third round, leaving Peru’s Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza as Okowa’s only rival.
Two sitting judges re-elected
Hmoud and Okowa joined the court in 2025, when they were elected to fill vacancies. Hmoud succeeded Nawaf Salam of Lebanon, and Okowa succeeded Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf of Somalia, both of whom resigned. Their current terms run until February 5, 2027. Judges Ronny Abraham of France, Dalveer Bhandari of India and Leonardo Nemer Caldeira Brant of Brazil will leave the court when their terms end on the same date.
The votes in the two bodies were held separately but at the same time, by secret ballot. Under the court’s statute, both the General Assembly and the Security Council must elect the same candidates. Voting continues until five candidates obtain the required majorities in both organs. The process can move to a joint conference if seats remain unfilled after three meetings, Security Council Report noted.
World court based in The Hague
The International Court of Justice, based at the Peace Palace in The Hague, is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It has 15 judges, who serve nine-year terms and may be re-elected. One-third of the seats are renewed every three years. The court settles legal disputes between states and gives advisory opinions on legal questions referred by UN bodies. The Hague also hosts Europol, the EU’s law enforcement agency.
Judges must be of high moral character and qualified for the highest judicial offices in their countries, or be recognised experts in international law. The court as a whole should represent the main forms of civilisation and the principal legal systems of the world. No two judges may be nationals of the same state. UN agencies have called for stronger efforts to prevent atrocities in conflicts around the world.