List of judges at the International Court of Justice
The list of judges at the International Court of Justice contains all 108 persons who were or are currently serving as regularly elected judges at the International Court of Justice as of June 2018, the time of Yuji Iwasawa's by-election . Not listed are judges who, in accordance with the statutes of the court, were called in ad hoc in individual cases at the request of a participating country.
The table can be sorted within the columns, so that different representations such as an arrangement according to the beginning of the term of office or a presidency or a grouping according to the countries of origin is possible. The names of the 15 currently officiating judges are highlighted in bold; the regular end of their term of office is given in brackets.
Selection of judges
The International Court of Justice, the main judicial organ of the United Nations , consists of 15 judges who are elected for a period of nine years. Of the judges who served after the court was founded in 1946, five were elected for an initial term of three, six or nine years, respectively, in order to enable staggered re-election or re-election in the following period. The election is made by the General Assembly of the United Nations and the UN Security Council on the basis of proposals by the members of the Permanent Court of Arbitration . Elections for one third of the judges take place every three years; re-election for up to two further terms is possible.
The personal requirements of the candidates are the qualification for the highest judicial office in their home country or a proven competence in the field of international law . No two judges working at the court at the same time may come from the same country. Through the selection of the judges, the different cultures and legal circles in the world are to be adequately represented. A judge can only be deselected by a unanimous decision of the other judges, but has never been done in the previous practice of the court.
Various selection principles are not prescribed by the Statute of the Court of Justice, but are established through customary use or on the basis of tradition. A judge who dies before the end of his term of office is usually followed by a candidate of the same nationality until the deceased incumbent's term of office expires. Another long-standing practice is a balanced representation of the various regions of the world and the consideration of other geopolitical factors when appointing the court. This was particularly important during the Cold War , i.e. between the end of World War II and the end of the Eastern Bloc around 1989/1990.
Of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the United States , France and Russia or the Soviet Union have always been represented by a judge since the establishment of the Court of Justice and the People's Republic of China since 1985. This also applied to Great Britain from 1946 to 2018 . In the elections in November 2017, British incumbent Christopher Greenwood failed to run for re-election because he was supported by a majority of the members of the UN Security Council, but was defeated by Indian candidate Dalveer Bhandari in the UN General Assembly. After several unsuccessful election rounds, the British UN mission withdrew his candidacy in favor of Dalveer Bhandari.
List of judges
| Country of origin | Surname | Term of office | president | Vice President |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 El Salvador
|
José Gustavo Guerrero (1876-1958) |
1946-1958 | 1946-1949 | 1949-1955 |
 France
|
Jules Basdevant (1877-1968) |
1946-1964 | 1949-1952 | 1946-1949 |
 Chile
|
Alejandro Álvarez (1868–1960) |
1946-1955 | ||
 Mexico
|
Isidro Fabela (1882–1964) |
1946-1952 | ||
 United States
|
Green H. Hackworth (1883-1973) |
1946-1961 | 1955-1958 | |
 Poland
|
Bohdan Winiarski (1884–1969) |
1946-1967 | 1961-1964 | |
.svg){kind=small} Yugoslavia
|
Milovan Zoričić (1884–1971) |
1946-1958 | ||
 Belgium
|
Charles De Visscher (1884–1973) |
1946-1952 | ||
 United Kingdom
|
Arnold McNair (1885-1975) |
1946-1955 | 1952-1955 | |
 Norway
|
Helge Klæstad (1885-1965) |
1946-1961 | 1958-1961 | |
 Egypt
|
Abdul Hamid Badawi (1887-1965) |
1946-1965 | 1955-1958 | |
 Soviet Union
|
Sergei Krylov (1888-1958) |
1946-1952 | ||
 Canada
|
John Read (1888-1973) |
1946-1958 | ||
 Republic of China
|
Hsu Mo (1893-1956) |
1946-1956 | ||
 Brazil
|
Philadelpho Azevedo (1894–1951) |
1946-1951 | ||
|
Brazil
|
Levi Carneiro (1882–1971) |
1951-1955 | ||
 India
|
Benegal Narsing Rau (1887–1953) |
1952-1953 | ||
 Uruguay
|
Enrique Armand-Ugón (1893-1984) |
1952-1961 | ||
|
Soviet Union
|
Sergei Golunski (1895–1962) |
1952-1953 | ||
|
Soviet Union
|
Fyodor Koschewnikow (1903-1998) |
1953-1961 | ||
 Pakistan
|
Muhammad Zafrullah Khan (1893–1985) |
1954-1961; 1964-1973 |
1970-1973 | 1958-1961 |
|
United Kingdom
|
Hersch Lauterpacht (1897–1960) |
1955-1960 | ||
 Argentina
|
Lucio Moreno Quintana (1898–1979) |
1955-1964 | ||
|
Mexico
|
Roberto Córdova (1899-1967) |
1955-1964 | ||
|
Republic of China
|
Wellington Koo (1887–1985) |
1957-1967 | 1964-1967 | |
 Greece
|
Jean Spiropoulos (1896–1972) |
1958-1967 | ||
 Australia
|
Percy Spender (1897–1985) |
1958-1967 | 1964-1967 | |
 Panama
|
Ricardo J. Alfaro (1882–1971) |
1959-1964 | 1961-1964 | |
|
United Kingdom
|
Gerald Fitzmaurice (1901–1982) |
1960-1973 | ||
|
Soviet Union
|
Vladimir Korezki (1890–1984) |
1961-1970 | 1967-1970 | |
 Japan
|
Tanaka Kōtarō (1890–1974) |
1961-1970 | ||
 Peru
|
José Luis Bustamante y Rivero (1894-1989) |
1961-1970 | 1967-1970 | |
|
United States
|
Philip Jessup (1897-1986) |
1961-1970 | ||
 Italy
|
Gaetano Morelli (1900-1989) |
1961-1970 | ||
|
Mexico
|
Luis Padilla Nervo (1894–1985) |
1964-1973 | ||
 Senegal
|
Isaac Forster (1903-1984) |
1964-1982 | ||
|
France
|
André Gros (1908-2003) |
1964-1982 | ||
 Lebanon
|
Fouad Ammoun (1899–1977) |
1965-1976 | 1970-1976 | |
 Philippines
|
Cesar Bengzon (1896-1992) |
1967-1976 | ||
 Sweden
|
Sture Petrén (1908-1976) |
1967-1976 | ||
|
Poland
|
Manfred Lachs (1914–1993) |
1967-1993 | 1973-1976 | |
 Nigeria
|
Charles Onyeama (1917-1999) |
1967-1976 | ||
|
United States
|
Hardy Cross Dillard (1902-1982) |
1970-1979 | ||
 Dahomey / Benin
|
Louis Ignacio-Pinto (1903-1984) |
1970-1979 | ||
 Spain
|
Federico de Castro (1903-1983) |
1970-1979 | ||
|
Soviet Union
|
Plato Dmitrijewitsch Morosow (1906-1986) |
1970-1985 | ||
|
Uruguay
|
Eduardo Jiménez de Aréchaga (1918–1994) |
1970-1979 | 1976-1979 | |
|
United Kingdom
|
Humphrey Waldock (1904-1981) |
1973-1981 | 1979-1981 | |
|
India
|
Nagendra Singh (1914–1988) |
1973-1988 | 1985-1988 | 1976-1979 |
|
Argentina
|
José María Ruda (1924–1994) |
1973-1991 | 1988-1991 | |
 Germany
|
Hermann Mosler (1912-2001) |
1976-1985 | ||
|
Nigeria
|
Taslim Olawale Elias (1914–1991) |
1976-1991 | 1982-1985 | 1979-1982 |
 Syria
|
Salah El Dine Tarazi (1917–1980) |
1976-1980 | ||
|
Japan
|
Shigeru Oda (* 1924) |
1976-2003 | 1991-1994 | |
|
Italy
|
Roberto Ago (1907-1995) |
1979-1995 | ||
|
Egypt
|
Abdullah Ali El-Erian (1920–1981) |
1979-1981 | ||
|
Brazil
|
José Sette Câmara (1920–2002) |
1979-1988 | 1982-1985 | |
|
United States
|
Richard R. Baxter (1921–1980) |
1979-1980 | ||
|
Syria
|
Abdallah Fikri El-Khani (* 1925) |
1981-1985 | ||
|
United States
|
Stephen M. Schwebel (* 1929) |
1981-2000 | 1997-2000 | 1994-1997 |
|
United Kingdom
|
Robert Yewdall Jennings (1913-2004) |
1982-1995 | 1991-1994 | |
|
France
|
Guy Ladreit de Lacharrière (1919–1987) |
1982-1987 | 1985-1987 | |
|
Senegal
|
Kéba Mbaye (1924-2007) |
1982-1991 | 1987-1991 | |
 Algeria
|
Mohammed Bedjaoui (* 1929) |
1982-2001 | 1994-1997 | |
 People's Republic of China
|
Ni Zhengyu (1906-2003) |
1985-1994 | ||
|
Norway
|
Jens Evensen (1917-2004) |
1985-1994 | ||
 Soviet Union / Russia
|
Nikolai Tarasow (1923-1994) |
1985-1994 | ||
|
France
|
Gilbert Guillaume (* 1930) |
1987-2005 | 2000-2003 | |
 Guyana
|
Mohamed Shahabuddeen (1931-2018) |
1988-1997 | ||
|
India
|
Raghunandan Swarup Pathak (1924-2007) |
1989-1991 | ||
 Venezuela
|
Andrés Aguilar Mawdsley (1924–1995) |
1991-1995 | ||
 Sri Lanka
|
Christopher Weeramantry (1926-2017) |
1991-2000 | 1997-2000 | |
 Madagascar
|
Raymond Ranjeva (* 1942) |
1991-2009 | 2003-2006 | |
|
Nigeria
|
Bola Ajibola (* 1934) |
1991-1994 | ||
 Hungary
|
Géza Herczegh (1928-2010) |
1993-2003 | ||
|
People's Republic of China
|
Shi Jiuyong (born 1926) |
1994-2010 | 2003-2006 | 2000-2003 |
|
Germany
|
Carl-August Fleischhauer (1930-2005) |
1994-2003 | ||
 Sierra Leone
|
Abdul Gadrie Koroma (* 1943) |
1994-2012 | ||
|
Russia
|
Wladlen Vereschtschetin (* 1932) |
1994-2006 | ||
|
Italy
|
Luigi Ferrari Bravo (1933-2016) |
1995-1997 | ||
|
United Kingdom
|
Rosalyn Higgins (born 1937) |
1995-2009 | 2006-2009 | |
|
Venezuela
|
Gonzalo Parra-Aranguren (1928-2016) |
1996-2009 | ||
 Netherlands
|
Pieter Kooijmans (1933-2013) |
1997-2006 | ||
|
Brazil
|
Francisco Rezek (* 1944) |
1997-2006 | ||
 Jordan
|
Aun Schaukat al-Chasauneh (* 1950) |
2000-2011 | 2006-2009 | |
|
United States
|
Thomas Buergenthal (* 1934) |
2000-2010 | ||
|
Egypt
|
Nabil Elaraby (* 1935) |
2001-2006 | ||
|
Japan
|
Hisashi Owada (* 1932) |
2003-2018 | 2009–2012 | |
|
Germany
|
Bruno Simma (* 1941) |
2003-2012 | ||
 Slovakia
|
Peter Tomka (* 1956) |
2003– (2021) | 2012-2015 | 2009–2012 |
|
France
|
Ronny Abraham (* 1951) |
2005– (2027) | 2015-2018 | |
 New Zealand
|
Kenneth Keith (* 1937) |
2006-2015 | ||
|
Mexico
|
Bernardo Sepúlveda Amor (* 1941) |
2006-2015 | 2012-2015 | |
 Morocco
|
Mohamed Bennouna (* 1943) |
2006– (2024) | ||
|
Russia
|
Leonid Skotnikow (* 1951) |
2006-2015 | ||
|
United Kingdom
|
Christopher Greenwood (* 1955) |
2009-2018 | ||
 Somalia
|
Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (* 1948) |
2009– (2027) | 2018– (2021) | 2015-2018 |
|
Brazil
|
Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade (* 1947) |
2009– (2027) | ||
|
People's Republic of China
|
Xue Hanqin (born 1955) |
2010– (2021) | 2018– (2021) | |
|
United States
|
Joan E. Donoghue (born 1956) |
2010– (2024) | ||
|
Italy
|
Giorgio Gaja (* 1939) |
2012– (2021) | ||
 Uganda
|
Julia Sebutinde (* 1954) |
2012– (2021) | ||
|
India
|
Dalveer Bhandari (* 1947) |
2012– (2027) | ||
|
Australia
|
James Crawford (born 1948) |
2015– (2024) | ||
|
Russia
|
Kirill Gorazijewitsch Geworgjan (* 1953) |
2015– (2024) | ||
 Jamaica
|
Patrick Lipton Robinson (* 1944) |
2015– (2024) | ||
|
Lebanon
|
Nawaf Salam (* 1953) |
2018– (2027) | ||
|
Japan
|
Yuji Iwasawa (* 1954) |
2018– (2021) |
literature
- Arthur Eyffinger, Arthur Witteveen, Mohammed Bedjaoui : La Cour internationale de Justice 1946–1996. Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, The Hague and London 1999, ISBN 9-04-110468-2 (biographies of the judges from 1946 to 1996, with pictures)
Web links
- International Court of Justice - Current Members List of current judges on the ICJ website
- International Court of Justice - All Members List of all judges on the ICJ website (English)