Judges of the International Court of Justice
The list of judges at the International Court of Justice includes all persons who were members of the regularly elected judge of the International Court of Justice as of April 2012 or are. It does not include judges who were consulted in accordance with the Statutes of the Court in individual cases an ad hoc basis at the request of the country concerned.
The table is sortable within the columns so that different representations such as an arrangement after the beginning of the term or a presidential or a grouping according to the countries of origin is possible. The names of the 15 currently serving judges are highlighted in bold type, the regular proper end of their term of office is indicated in parentheses.
Selection of judges
The International Court of Justice, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, composed of 15 judges, who are elected for a period of nine years. Of the judges who held office after the establishment of the Court in 1946, were notwithstanding, five elected for an initial term of three, six or nine years to allow in the period following a staggered post- and re-election. The selection 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. Every three years, elections take place for one-third of the judges, a re-election for up to two further terms is possible.
Personal qualifications of the candidates are the existence of the qualification for the highest judicial office in their home country as well as proven expertise in the field of international law. No two judges, which act at the same time the court may originate from the same country. Through the selection of judges, different cultural and legal systems in the world are to be adequately represented. The removal of a judge is only possible by a unanimous decision of the other judges.
Various principles governing the selection are not specified by the statute of the court, but established by habitual use or because of traditions. Thus follows a judge who dies before the expiration of his term, usually a candidate of the same nationality to the regular end of the term of office of the late incumbent. Also long-standing practice is a balanced representation of the various regions of the world as well as the consideration of other geopolitical circumstances of the composition of the court. This was particularly true during the Cold War, so in the time between the end of World War II and the end of the Eastern Bloc by 1989/1990, of importance. Of the five permanent members of the UN Security Council, the United States, Britain, France and Russia or the Soviet Union were always held since the establishment of the Court and the People's Republic of China since 1985 by a judge.