2003 International Criminal Court judges election explained

An ordinary election for the first full bench of 18 judges of the International Criminal Court was held during the first resumption of the 1st session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court in New York between 3 and 7 February 2003.^[1]

Background

The judges elected at this election were to take office on 11 March 2003. Six judges were to remain in office until 2006 (re-eligible), six until 2009 (not re-eligible) and another six for the whole nine-year term until 2012 (not re-eligible).

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 must belong to exactly one list.

Nomination process

Following the rules, the nomination period of judges for the 2003 election lasted from 9 September to 30 November 2002. The following persons were nominated:^[2]

Name	Nationality	List A or B	Region	Gender
		List B	Latin American and Caribbean States	Male
		List B	Latin American and Caribbean States	Male
		List B	Western European and Other States	Male
		List A	Western European and Other States	Female
		List B	Eastern European States	Male
		List A	African States	Female
		List B	Asian States	Male
		List A	Western European and Other States	Male
		List A	Western European and Other States	Male
		List B	Eastern European States	Male
		List B	Asian States	Male
		List A	Latin American and Caribbean States	Male
		List A	Western European and Other States	Male
		List B	Eastern European States	Male
		List A	African States	Male
		List A	Eastern European States	Female
		List A	African States	Male
		List B	Western European and Other States	Male
		List B	Western European and Other States	Male
		List B	Western European and Other States	Male
		List B	African States	Female
		List A	African States	Male
		List B	Latin American and Caribbean States	Male
		List A	African States	Male
		List B	Latin American and Caribbean States	Male
		List B	African States	Male
		List A	Latin American and Caribbean States	Female
		List A	Western European and Other States	Female
		List A	Asian States	Male
		List B	African States	Female
		List B	Western European and Other States	Male
		List A	Western European and Other States	Male
		List B	Latin American and Caribbean States	Male
		List A	African States	Male
		List A	Asian States	Male
		List B	African States	Male
		List A	Asian States	Male
		List A	Latin American and Caribbean States	Female
		List A	Asian States	Male
		List B	Eastern European States	Female
		List B	Western European and Other States	Male
		List A	Eastern European States	Female
		List A	Eastern European States	Male

The candidature of Kocou A. Capo-Chichi of Benin was withdrawn.

Minimum voting requirements

Minimum voting requirements governed part of the election. This was to ensure that article 36(8)(a) cited above is fulfilled. The following minimum voting requirements existed:

Regarding the List A or B requirement, there was a minimum voting requirement (not to be waived at any time) of nine judges from List A and five judges from List B.^[3]

Regarding the regional criteria, there were minimum voting requirements for three African, two Asian, two Eastern European judges, three Latin American and Caribbean judges and three judges from Western European and Other States.

Regarding the gender criteria, there was a minimum voting requirement for six female and six male judges.

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 A	9	22	9
List B	6	22	6
Regional criteria
African states	3	11	3
Asian states	2	6	2
Eastern European states	2	7	2
Latin American and Caribbean States	3	8	3
Western European and other States	3	12	3
Gender criteria
Female	6	10	6
Male	6	34	6

Ballots

The ballots took place in February 2003.

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	11th round
Number of States Parties voting					83	80	83	83	85	85	85	85	85	85	85
Two-thirds majority					56	54	56	56	57	57	57	57	57	57	57
		List A	Western European and Other States	Female	bgcolor=lightgreen	65	elected
		List A	African States	Female	bgcolor=lightgreen	65	elected
		List A	Asian States	Male	bgcolor=lightgreen	63	elected
		List A	Latin American and Caribbean States	Female	bgcolor=lightgreen	61	elected
		List B	African States	Female	bgcolor=lightgreen	60	elected
		List A	Latin American and Caribbean States	Female	bgcolor=lightgreen	60	elected
		List B	African States	Female	bgcolor=lightgreen	56	elected
		List A	Latin American and Caribbean States	Male	53	49	bgcolor=lightgreen	56	elected
		List A	Asian States	Male	43	47	50	bgcolor=lightgreen	60	elected
		List B	Western European and Other States	Male	55	46	54	bgcolor=lightgreen	57	elected
		List B	Western European and Other States	Male	51	53	54	bgcolor=lightgreen	56	elected
		List A	Western European and Other States	Male	42	45	47	50	50	54	53	52	bgcolor=lightgreen	59	elected
		List B	Eastern European States	Female	46	31	37	52	49	51	50	55	bgcolor=lightgreen	59	elected
		List B	Western European and Other States	Male	43	45	48	47	54	50	50	46	bgcolor=lightgreen	57	elected
		List B	Latin American and Caribbean States	Male	30	27	30	39	48	51	51	46	48	50	49
		List B	Western European and Other States	Male	46	46	49	52	54	44	41	42	49	47	47
		List A	Western European and Other States	Male	43	43	43	46	45	44	46	43	46	45	45
		List B	Eastern European States	Male	26	30	39	47	49	42	41	39	45	44	38
		List A	Western European and Other States	Female	45	36	36	38	39	44	42	34	37	31	34
		List A	Asian States	Male	34	30	33	32	34	43	46	44	42	39	31
		List A	African States	Male	30	19	21	30	27	37	37	33	36	29	30
		List A	African States	Male	39	17	19	19	19	27	27	26	26	19	18
		List B	Asian States	Male	15	10	8	8	6	5	7	10	10	9	9
		List B	Latin American and Caribbean States	Male	18	7	11	9	9	11	9	9	withdrawn
		List B	Western European and Other States	Male	28	24	22	35	26	21	17	withdrawn
		List A	Eastern European States	Male	27	27	27	23	10	withdrawn
		List A	Western European and Other States	Male	14	15	18	11	8	withdrawn
		List A	Eastern European States	Female	35	26	24	20	8	withdrawn
		List B	Eastern European States	Male	18	18	20	21	5	withdrawn
		List A	Eastern European States	Female	36	26	24	15	5	withdrawn
		List B	Eastern European States	Male	23	23	20	15	withdrawn
		List B	Latin American and Caribbean States	Male	20	9	10	8	withdrawn
		List A	Western European and Other States	Male	28	24	19	withdrawn
		List B	Latin American and Caribbean States	Male	16	7	8	withdrawn
		List A	African States	Male	9	7	7	withdrawn
		List B	Asian States	Male	27	11	6	withdrawn
		List A	Asian States	Male	14	7	6	withdrawn
		List A	African States	Male	14	8	5	withdrawn
		List B	Latin American and Caribbean States	Male	18	10	withdrawn
		List B	Western European and Other States	Male	20	9	withdrawn
		List B	African States	Male	20	9	withdrawn
		List B	African States	Male	9	withdrawn
		List A	African States	Male	8	withdrawn

Name	Nationality	List A or B	Region	Gender	12th round	13th round	14th round	15th round	16th round	17th round	18th round	19th round	20th round	21st round	22nd round
Number of States Parties voting					85	84	84	84	85	85	85	85	85	85	83
Two-thirds majority					57	56	56	56	57	57	57	57	57	57	56
		List B	Latin American and Caribbean States	Male	52	bgcolor=lightgreen	57	elected
		List B	Western European and Other States	Male	48	46	45	48	52	52	52	54	56	bgcolor=lightgreen	58	elected
		List A	Western European and Other States	Male	47	47	50	48	47	47	47	49	48	49	45
		List A	Asian States	Male	29	27	25	22	28	28	39	39	37	42	44
		List B	Eastern European States	Male	40	42	37	41	40	41	45	42	39	37	40
		List A	African States	Male	31	29	27	24	26	24	21	20	23	20	14
		List A	African States	Male	16	15	10	15	15	16	15	13	13	12	10
		List A	Western European and Other States	Female	33	31	25	22	19	17	withdrawn
		List B	Asian States	Male	8	6	5	5	withdrawn

Name	Nationality	List A or B	Region	Gender	23rd round	24th round	25th round	26th round	27th round	28th round	29th round	30th round	31st round	32nd round	33rd round
Number of States Parties voting					85	84	85	85	85	85	84	84	83	83	80
Two-thirds majority					57	56	57	57	57	57	56	56	56	56	54
		List A	Asian States	Male	45	46	46	49	52	bgcolor=lightgreen	58	elected
		List A	Western European and Other States	Male	45	44	44	44	44	41	40	46	50	53	bgcolor=lightgreen	57
		List A	African States	Male	24	20	19	17	19	16	12	8	3	6	23
		List B	Eastern European States	Male	37	35	36	40	42	38	32	30	30	24	withdrawn
		List A	African States	Male	withdrawn

Notes and References

News: Election of the judges of the International Criminal Court . . 2011-12-11.
United Nations (2003). Nominations for judges of the International Criminal Court – First election . Retrieved 11 April 2022
http://daccess-dds-ny.un.org/doc/UNDOC/GEN/N02/754/19/IMG/N0275419.pdf?OpenElement Note verbale governing the election