2011 International Criminal Court judges election

Six judges of the International Criminal Court were elected during the 10th session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in New York between 12 and 21 December 2011.[1] The judges elected, Anthony Carmona of Trinidad and Tobago, Miriam Defensor Santiago of the Philippines, Chile Eboe-Osuji of Nigeria, Robert Fremr of the Czech Republic, Olga Venecia Herrera Carbuccia of the Dominican Republic and Howard Morrison of the United Kingdom, took office on 11 March 2012.

Background

The judges elected at this session were to replace those six judges who were elected at the first election of ICC judges in 2003 for a full term of nine years; they were also to serve for nine years until 2021.

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 had to belong to exactly one list.

Further rules of election were adopted by a resolution of the Assembly of States Parties in 2004.[2]

Nomination process

Following these rules, the nomination period of judges for the 2011 election lasted from 13 June to 2 September 2011 and was extended once until 16 September 2011 due to the lack of candidates from one regional group. The following persons were nominated:[3]

Name Nationality List A or B Region Gender
Rosolu John Bankole Thompson Sierra LeoneList AAfrican StatesMale
Ajmi Bel Haj Hamouda TunisiaList AAfrican StatesMale
Vinod Boolell MauritiusList AAfrican StatesMale
Modeste-Martineau Bria Central African RepublicList AAfrican StatesMale
Anthony Carmona Trinidad and TobagoList ALatin American and Caribbean StatesMale
Bruno Cathala FranceList AWestern European and other StatesMale
Eduard Cifuentes Muñoz ColombiaList ALatin American and Caribbean StatesMale
Władysław Czapliński PolandList BEastern European StatesMale
Miriam Defensor Santiago PhilippinesList BAsian StatesFemale
Chile Eboe-Osuji NigeriaList AAfrican StatesMale
Robert Fremr Czech RepublicList AEastern European StatesMale
Olga Venecia Herrera Carbuccia Dominican RepublicList ALatin American and Caribbean StatesFemale
Gberdao Gustave Kam Burkina FasoList AAfrican StatesMale
Javier Laynez Potisek MexicoList ALatin American and Caribbean StatesMale
Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua Democratic Republic of the CongoList AAfrican StatesMale
Howard Morrison United KingdomList AWestern European and other StatesMale
Hamani Mounkaile Nouhou NigerList AAfrican StatesMale
George A. Serghides CyprusList AAsian StatesMale
Jorge Antonio Urbina Ortega Costa RicaList BLatin American and Caribbean StatesMale

The nomination period could have been extended for a maximum of six weeks (it was once), two at a time, if there had not been nominated at least twice as many candidates for each criterion as necessary.

The nomination of Ajmi Bel Haj Hamouda was withdrawn before the session.

Minimum voting requirements

Minimum voting requirements governed part of the election. This was to ensure that article 36(8)(a) cited above was fulfilled. For this election, the following minimum voting requirements existed; they were to be adjusted once the election was underway.

Regarding the List A or B requirement, States Parties had to vote for three candidates from list A in the early rounds of voting. The minimum requirement of judges from list B was fulfilled. This requirement was not to be waived under any circumstance.

Regarding the regional criteria, initially there were three seats reserved for regional groups: one for the Eastern European States and two for the Latin American and Caribbean States. On 13 October 2011, the Bureau of the ASP notified States Parties of the application of Paragraph 20 (b) of ICC-ASP/3/Res.6 regarding the conditions for obtaining an additional regional seat, in this case referring to Asia, where the membership of the Maldives as the 17th Asian ICC member state triggered a fourth seat to be reserved for an Asian judge. Thus, there were four regional seats to be reserved for which to be voted in the early rounds of voting - one Asian seat, one Eastern European seat, and 2 GRULAC seats. The minimum requirement for judges from African and Western European and other states was fulfilled.

Regarding the gender criteria, the minimum requirement for female judges was fulfilled. States Parties had to vote for two male candidates in the early rounds of voting.

The regional and gender criteria could have been adjusted even before the election depending on the number of candidates. Paragraph 20(b) of the ASP resolution that governed the elections states that if there had been less than double the number of candidates required for each region, the minimum voting requirement would have been a (rounded-up) half of the number of candidates; except when there had been only one candidate which would have resulted in no voting requirement. Furthermore, if the number of candidates of one gender had been less than ten, then the minimum voting requirement would not have exceeded a certain number depending on the number of candidates.

The regional and gender criteria were to be dropped either if they were not (jointly) possible any more, or if after four ballots not all seats were filled (as was the case in this election).

Given the nominations (already taking into account the withdrawal of Ajmi Bel Haj Hamouda which did not change the outcome, however), the voting requirements were as follows:

Criterion Voting requirement ex ante Candidates as of now Adjusted voting requirement Adjusted requirement equals ex ante?
Lists A or B
List A3153Yes
List B030Yes
Regional criteria
African states070Yes
Asian states121Yes
Eastern European states121Yes
Latin American and Caribbean States252Yes
Western European and other States020Yes
Gender criteria
Female020Yes
Male2162Yes

Campaign on International Criminal Court Elections

Because of the importance of qualified and impartial judges, NGOs have taken a particular interest in the ICC judges election.[4] The "Campaign on International Criminal Court Elections" was launched to promote the nomination and election of the most highly qualified officials through fair, merit-based, and transparent processes. This Campaign is sponsored by the Coalition for the International Criminal Court, a group of NGOs. Among other things, the Coalition is strongly opposed to "vote-trading" among States Parties.[5] In December 2010, the Coalition established an Independent Panel on International Criminal Court Judicial Elections. The panel is to "issue a report containing an assessment of each judicial candidate as 'Qualified' or 'Not Qualified' after the closing of the nomination period and in advance of the December 2011 elections."[6] The members of the panel are:[6]

On 26 October 2011, the Panel published a report[7] in which it assessed the candidates as follows in regard to their qualification to serve as a judge on the ICC in their respective list:

Name Nationality List A or B Region Gender Qualified or not
Rosolu John Bankole Thompson Sierra LeoneList AAfrican StatesMaleQualified
Ajmi Bel Haj Hamouda TunisiaList AAfrican StatesMaleNot qualified
Vinod Boolell MauritiusList AAfrican StatesMaleQualified
Modeste-Martineau Bria Central African RepublicList AAfrican StatesMaleQualified
Anthony Carmona Trinidad and TobagoList ALatin American and Caribbean StatesMaleQualified
Bruno Cathala FranceList AWestern European and other StatesMaleQualified
Eduard Cifuentes Muñoz ColombiaList ALatin American and Caribbean StatesMaleQualified
Władysław Czapliński PolandList BEastern European StatesMaleQualified
Miriam Defensor Santiago PhilippinesList BAsian StatesFemaleQualified
Chile Eboe-Osuji NigeriaList AAfrican StatesMaleQualified
Robert Fremr Czech RepublicList AEastern European StatesMaleQualified
Olga Venecia Herrera Carbuccia Dominican RepublicList ALatin American and Caribbean StatesFemaleQualified
Gberdao Gustave Kam Burkina FasoList AAfrican StatesMaleQualified
Javier Laynez Potisek MexicoList ALatin American and Caribbean StatesMaleNot qualified
Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua Democratic Republic of the CongoList AAfrican StatesMaleQualified
Howard Morrison United KingdomList AWestern European and other StatesMaleQualified
Hamani Mounkaile Nouhou NigerList AAfrican StatesMaleQualified
George A. Serghides CyprusList AAsian StatesMaleNot qualified
Jorge Antonio Urbina Ortega Costa RicaList BLatin American and Caribbean StatesMaleNot qualified

Ballots

Unless otherwise indicated, results are from the ASP website.

Name Nationality List A or B Region Gender 1st round 2nd round 3rd round 4th round 5th round 6th round 7th round 8th round 9th round 10th round
12 December 2011 13 December 2011 14 December 2011 15 December 2011
Number of States Parties voting104107115116117115115114112114
Two-thirds majority70727778787777767576
Miriam Defensor Santiago PhilippinesList BAsian StatesFemale79elected
Anthony Carmona Trinidad and TobagoList ALatin American and Caribbean StatesMale72elected
Robert Fremr Czech RepublicList AEastern European StatesMale6277elected
Howard Morrison United KingdomList AWestern European and other StatesMale51546264677169697062
Chile Eboe-Osuji NigeriaList AAfrican StatesMale34394147515257585661
Olga Venecia Herrera Carbuccia Dominican RepublicList ALatin American and Caribbean StatesFemale44363838404041465752
Bruno Cathala FranceList AWestern European and other StatesMale40444650515450544645
Vinod Boolell MauritiusList AAfrican StatesMale27292530312639373840
Jorge Antonio Urbina Ortega Costa RicaList BLatin American and Caribbean StatesMale36373749454639394431
Javier Laynez Potisek MexicoList ALatin American and Caribbean StatesMale3328323430332524withdrawn
Eduard Cifuentes Muñoz ColombiaList ALatin American and Caribbean StatesMale35292523171612withdrawn
Władysław Czapliński PolandList BEastern European StatesMale463614911withdrawn
Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua Democratic Republic of the CongoList AAfrican StatesMale12106withdrawn
George A. Serghides CyprusList AAsian StatesMale286withdrawn
Modeste-Martineau Bria Central African RepublicList AAfrican StatesMale12withdrawn
Gberdao Gustave Kam Burkina FasoList AAfrican StatesMale10withdrawn
Hamani Mounkaile Nouhou NigerList AAfrican StatesMale7withdrawn
Rosolu John Bankole Thompson Sierra LeoneList AAfrican StatesMale3withdrawn
Name Nationality List A or B Region Gender 11th round 12th round 13th round 14th round 15th round
15 December 2011 16 December 2011
Number of States Parties voting109109105113102
Two-thirds majority7373707668
Olga Venecia Herrera Carbuccia Dominican RepublicList ALatin American and Caribbean StatesFemale7177elected
Howard Morrison United KingdomList AWestern European and other StatesMale646672elected
Chile Eboe-Osuji NigeriaList AAfrican StatesMale62635968102
Bruno Cathala FranceList AWestern European and other StatesMale44464545withdrawn
Vinod Boolell MauritiusList AAfrican StatesMale363422withdrawn
Jorge Antonio Urbina Ortega Costa RicaList BLatin American and Caribbean StatesMalewithdrawn

After the first ballot, the minimum voting requirement for the Asian seat was fulfilled. The list A minimum voting requirement dropped to two, the Latin American and Caribbean States (GRULAC) minimum voting requirement dropped to one and the male candidates minimum voting requirement dropped to one, as well. The Eastern European States minimum voting requirement remained at one.

After the second ballot, the minimum voting requirement for the Eastern European seat was fulfilled as well as the male candidates seat. The list A minimum voting requirement dropped to one while the GRULAC seat remained at one.

As no new judges were elected during the third and fourth ballot, the minimum voting requirement for the GRULAC seat was abandoned. Only the list A minimum voting requirement (one judge) remained in place until such a judge was elected. After the election of a list A judge in the 12th ballot all minimum voting requirements were fulfilled.

References

  1. "Election of six judges – December 2011". International Criminal Court. 28 June 2011. Archived from the original on 24 June 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  2. "Resolution ICC-ASP/3/Res.6" (PDF). International Criminal Court. 10 September 2004. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 June 2011. Retrieved 28 June 2011.
  3. "Alphabetical listing". International Criminal Court. 28 June 2011. Archived from the original on 7 August 2011. Retrieved 18 July 2011.
  4. Mariana Rodriguez-Pareja (9 June 2011). "The importance of monitoring ICC elections". Global Memo. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  5. "Delivering on the promise of a fair, effective and independent Court – Election of ICC and ASP Officials". Coalition for the International Criminal Court. Archived from the original on 7 March 2007. Retrieved 27 July 2011.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  6. "Independent Panel on ICC Judicial Elections". Archived from the original on 20 January 2012. Retrieved 27 July 2011.
  7. Report on International Criminal Court Judicial Nominations 2011 Archived 10 November 2011 at the Wayback Machine. Retrieved 27 October 2011.
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