Judges of the International Criminal Court explained

The eighteen judges of the International Criminal Court (ICC) are elected for nine-year terms by the member-countries of the court. Candidates must be nationals of those countries and they must "possess the qualifications required in their respective States for appointment to the highest judicial offices".

A judge may be disqualified from "any case in which his or her impartiality might reasonably be doubted on any ground", and a judge may be removed from office if found "to have committed serious misconduct or a serious breach of his or her duties" or is unable to exercise his or her functions.

The judges are organized into three divisions: the Pre-Trial Division, Trial Division, and Appeals Division.

Qualifications, election and terms

Judges are elected to the ICC by the Assembly of States Parties, the court's governing body. They serve nine-year terms and are not generally eligible for re-election.^[1]

By the time of their election, all judges must be nationals of states parties to the Rome Statute, and no two judges may be nationals of the same state.^[2] They must be "persons of high moral character, impartiality and integrity who possess the qualifications required in their respective States for appointment to the highest judicial offices",^[2] and they must "have an excellent knowledge of and be fluent in at least one of the working languages of the Court" (English and French).^[2]

Judges are elected from two lists of candidates. List A comprises candidates who have "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".^[2] List B comprises candidates who have "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".^[2] Elections are organised so as to maintain at least nine judges from List A and at least five from List B on the court.^{[2] [3]}

The Assembly of States Parties is required to "take into account the need for the representation of the principal legal systems of the world, equitable geographical representation and a fair representation of female and male judges. They shall take into account the need to include judges with legal expertise on specific issues, including, but not limited to, violence against women and children."^[3] For this purpose, voting requirements have been established that aim to maintain at least six female judges and at least six male judges on the court, and at least two from each regional group of the United Nations. If a regional group has more than sixteen states parties, the minimum voting requirement for this regional group increases by one. Therefore, since the Statute's entry into force for the Maldives on 1 December 2011, all regional groups can claim a third judge.

Elections

The following elections have taken place:^[4]

• In February 2003, the Assembly of States Parties elected the first bench of eighteen judges from a total of 43 candidates.^[5] After this first election, the President of the Assembly of States Parties drew lots to assign the eighteen judges to terms of three, six or nine years;^{[2] [6]} those who served for three years were eligible for re-election in 2006.^[1] The first bench of judges was sworn in at the inaugural session of the court on 11 March 2003.^[7]
• The second election was held on 26 January 2006.^[8] Five of the six outgoing judges were re-elected, but Judge Tuiloma Neroni Slade was defeated.^[9] He was succeeded by Ekaterina Trendafilova.^[8]
• The first special election took place on 3 December 2007, to replace three judges who had resigned.^{[10] [11]} The three new judges were assigned to serve the remaining portions of their predecessors' terms.^[10] Pursuant to a drawing of lots, Fumiko Saiga served the remainder of Claude Jorda's term, which expired on 10 March 2009.^{[12] [13]} The other two new judges' terms ended on 10 March 2012.^{[12] [13]}
• The third ordinary election took place on 19–20 January 2009.^{[14] [15]} Twenty-one individuals were nominated to fill the six vacancies.^[16] Only one incumbent judge, Fumiko Saiga, was eligible for re-election;^[1] she ran and was elected.^[14]
• The second special election took place on 18 November 2009 to replace two judges who had died and resigned, respectively. Kuniko Ozaki of Japan and Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi were elected to serve until 2018.^[17]
• The fourth ordinary election took place during the 10th Session of the Assembly of States Parties from 12 to 21 December 2011. None of the six judges to be replaced were eligible for re-election.
• The third special election took place in November 2013 to replace a judge who had resigned.
• The fifth ordinary election took place in December 2014 to replace the judges elected in 2006.
• The fourth special election took place in June 2015 to replace a judge who had resigned.
• The sixth ordinary election took place in December 2017 to replace the judges elected in 2009.
• The seventh ordinary election took place in December 2020 to replace the judges whose terms ended in 2021. Four of those judges had been elected in 2011 for full nine-year terms; the other two had been elected in the special elections in 2013 and 2015 to replace two judges elected in 2011 who had resigned.
• The eighth ordinary election took place in December 2023 to replace the judges elected in 2014.

Disqualification and removal from office

The prosecutor or any person being investigated or prosecuted may request the disqualification of a judge from "any case in which his or her impartiality might reasonably be doubted on any ground".^[18] Any request for the disqualification of a judge from a particular case is decided by an absolute majority of the other judges.^[18]

A judge may be removed from office if "found to have committed serious misconduct or a serious breach of his or her duties" or is unable to exercise his or her functions.^[19] The removal of a judge requires both a two-thirds majority of the other judges and a two-thirds majority of the states parties.^[19]

Presidency

See main article: Presidency of the International Criminal Court. The Presidency is the organ responsible for the proper administration of the court, except for the Office of the Prosecutor.^[20] The Presidency oversees the activities of the Registry and organises the work of the judicial divisions. It also has some responsibilities in the area of external relations, such as negotiating agreements on behalf of the court and the promoting public awareness and understanding of the institution.^[21]

The Presidency comprises the President and the First and Second Vice-Presidents – three judges of the court who are elected to the Presidency by their fellow judges for a maximum of two three-year terms.^[22] The Presidents of the ICC were Philippe Kirsch, who served from 2003 to 2009, Sang-hyun Song from 2009 to 2015, Silvia Fernández de Gurmendi from 2015 to 2018, Chile Eboe-Osuji from 2018 to 2021 and Piotr Hofmański from 2021 to 2024. As of March 2024, the President is Tomoko Akane from Japan; Rosario Salvatore Aitala of Italy is First Vice-President and Reine Alapini-Gansou of Benin is Second Vice-President. All three were elected on 11 March 2024.^[23]

Judicial divisions

The eighteen judges are organized into three divisions: the Pre-Trial Division, Trial Division and Appeals Division.^[24] The Pre-Trial Division (which comprises the Second Vice President and five other judges)^[24] confirms indictments and issues international arrest warrants. The Trial Division (the First Vice President and six other judges) presides over trials. Decisions of the Pre-Trial and Trial Divisions may be appealed to the Appeals Division (the President and four other judges). Judges are assigned to divisions according to their qualifications and experience.

Current structure

Judges

after the 2023 International Criminal Court judges election, there are 18 full-time judges serving their mandate.

Judges of the International Criminal Court (sortable)! Name !! Country !! Took office !! Term End !! Division
!! Remark

		2018	2027	Appeals	President
		2018	2027	Pre-Trial	First Vice-President
		2018	2027	Pre-Trial	Second Vice-President
		2018	2027	Appeals
		2018	2027	Appeals
		2018	2027	Trial
		2021	2030	Trial
		2021	2030	Appeals
		2021	2030	Pre-Trial
		2021	2030	Pre-Trial
		2021	2030	Trial
		2021	2030	Trial
		2024	2033	Trial
		2024	2033	Appeals
		2024	2033	Pre-Trial
		2024	2033	Pre-Trial
		2024	2033	Trial
		2024	2033	Trial

11 of the 18 judges are female. The geographical representation is as follows:^[25]

Regional group	Number of judges
Western European and other states	4
African states	4
Latin American and Caribbean states	4
Eastern European states	3
Asian states	3

Chambers

The Judicial Chambers^[26] are organized into three main divisions. The Appeals Chamber consists of the whole Appeals Division whereas the Pre-Trial Chambers cover whole situations, authorizing as well the opening of investigation or cases. The Trial Chambers single cases (which can consist of one or more accused)., the judges are assigned as follows.

Chamber	Members	Committed to
Appeals Division
Appeals	Akane, Ibáñez, Balungi Bossa, Lordkipanidze, Damdin
Trial Division
Trial Chamber I	Korner (Presiding), Alapini-Gansou, Alexis-Windsor	Abd-Al-Rahman trial (Darfur, Sudan)
Trial Chamber II	Flores Liera (Presiding), Prost, Guillou	Lubanga (DR Congo), Katanga (DR Congo), Al Mahdi (Mali), Ongwen (Uganda)
Trial Chamber IV	Prost (Presiding), Paek, Guillou	Banda trial (Darfur, Sudan)
Trial Chamber V	Schmitt (Presiding), Kovács, Chung, Hohler (Alternate)	Yekatom and Ngaïssona trial (Central African Republic II)
Trial Chamber VI	Samba (Presiding), Flores Liera, Ugalde, Paek (Alternate)	Said trial (Central African Republic II)
Trial Chamber X	Kesia-Mbe Mindua (Presiding), Akane, Prost	Al Hassan trial (Mali)
Pre-Trial Division
Pre-Trial Chamber I	Motoc (Presiding), Alapini-Gansou, Flores Liera	Democratic Republic of the Congo
		Democratic Republic of the Congo II
		Libya (UN Security Council Resolution 1970)
		Mali
		Bangladesh / Myanmar (Rohingya genocide)
		Georgia
		Venezuela I
		Venezuela II
		Philippines
	Motoc (Presiding), Alapini-Gansou, Guillou	Motoc (Presiding), Alapini-Gansou, Guillou	Palestine
Pre-Trial Chamber II	Aitala (Presiding), Ugalde, Ben Mahfoudh	Central African Republic I
		Central African Republic II
		Darfur, Sudan
		Kenya
		Cote d'Ivoire
		Afghanistan
		Burundi
		Ukraine
Pre-Trial Chamber III	Alexis-Windsor (Presiding), Motoc, Ben Mahfoudh	Uganda

Former judges

Former judges of the International Criminal Court, ! Name !! Country !! Took office !! Term End !! Notes

Slade		2003	2006	Defeated in 2006 election.
Clark	Ireland	2003	2006	Resigned to serve on the High Court of Ireland.^[27]
JordaClaude Jorda	France	2003	2007	Resigned "for reasons of permanent ill-health".^[28]
Hudson-Phillips		2003	2007	Resigned "for personal reasons".^[29]
PillayNavanethem Pillay	South Africa	2003	2008	Resigned to serve as United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.^[30]
Kirsch	Canada	2003	2009	Not eligible for re-election. President of the Court from 2003 to 2009.
PikisGeorghios Pikis	Cyprus	2003	2009	Not eligible for re-election.
Politi		2003	2009	Not eligible for re-election.
Saiga	Japan	2007, 2009	2009	Died in office.^[31]
Ntanda NserekoDaniel Nsereko		2007	2012	Not eligible for re-election.
Blattmann		2003	2012	Not eligible for re-election in 2009, remained in office as member of Trial Chamber I.
Fulford		2003	2012	Not eligible for re-election in 2012, remained in office as member of Trial Chamber I.
Odio Benito		2003	2012	Not eligible for re-election in 2012, remained in office as member of Trial Chamber I.
SteinerSylvia Steiner	Brazil	2003	2012	Not eligible for re-election in 2012.
Carmona		2012	2013	Resigned to become President of Trinidad and Tobago.
Cotte	France	2007	2014	Not eligible for re-election in 2012, remained in office as member of Trial Chamber II.
Diarra		2003	2014	Not eligible for re-election in 2012, remained in office as member of Trial Chamber II.
SantiagoMiriam Defensor Santiago		2012	2014	Resigned due to health issues.^[32]
Kaul	Germany	2003, 2006	2014	Resigned due to health issues.^[33]
Kourula		2003, 2006	2015	Not eligible for re-election in 2015.
Kuenyehia		2003, 2006	2015	Not eligible for re-election in 2015.
SongSang-Hyun Song	South Korea	2003, 2006	2015	Not eligible for re-election in 2015.
Trendafilova		2006	2015	Not eligible for re-election in 2015.
Usacka		2003, 2006	2015	Not eligible for re-election in 2015.
MonagengSanji Monageng	Botswana	2009	2018	Not eligible for re-election in 2017.
WyngaertChris van den Wyngaert	Belgium	2009	2018	Not eligible for re-election in 2017.
Tarfusser	Italy	2009	2018	Not eligible for re-election in 2017.
OzakiKuniko Ozaki	Japan	2009	2018	Not eligible for re-election in 2017.
AluochJoyce Aluoch	Kenya	2009	2018	Not eligible for re-election in 2017.
FernándezSilvia Fernández de Gurmendi	Argentina	2009	2018	Not eligible for re-election in 2017.
Eboe-Osuji		2012	2021	Not eligible for re-election in 2020.
Fremr		2012	2021	Not eligible for re-election in 2020.
Henderson		2014	2021	Not eligible for re-election in 2020.
Herrera Carbuccia		2012	2021	Not eligible for re-election in 2020.
Morrison		2012	2021	Not eligible for re-election in 2020.
Pangalangan		2015	2021	Not eligible for re-election in 2020.
Chung		2015	2024	Not eligible for re-election in 2023, remained in office as member of Trial Chamber V.
Hofmański		2015	2024	Not eligible for re-election in 2023.
Brichambaut		2015	2024	Not eligible for re-election in 2023.
Schmitt		2015	2024	Not eligible for re-election in 2023, remained in office as member of Trial Chamber V.
Mindua		2015	2024	Not eligible for re-election in 2023, remained in office as member of Trial Chamber X.
Kovács		2015	2024	Not eligible for re-election in 2023, remained in office as member of Trial Chamber V.

Mohamed Shahabuddeen of Guyana was elected to the court in January 2009 but he resigned for personal reasons before taking office.^[34]

Classes of judges

In 2003, the first judges were divided into three different classes of terms: those with term ending in 2006 (and re-eligible), those with term ending in 2009 and those with term ending in 2012. This list shows to which class the different judges belong.

Classes of judges' terms! Period !! Class of judges with initial term ending in 2006 !! Class of judges with initial term ending in 2009 !! Class of judges with initial term ending in 2012 !! Period

2003–2006	Kaul, Kourula, Kuenyehia, Slade, Song, Ušacka	Blattmann, Jorda, Kirsch, Pikis, Pillay, Politi Jorda resigned in 2007 Saiga elected in 2007 Pillay resigned in 2008	Clark, Diarra, Fulford, Hudson-Phillips, Odio Benito, Steiner Clark resigned in 2006 Hudson-Phillips resigned in 2007 Cotte, Nsereko elected in 2007	2003–2006
2006–2009	Kaul, Kourula, Kuenyehia, Song, Trendafilova, Ušacka Kaul resigned in 2014			2006–2009
2009–2012		Aluoch, Monageng, Saiga, (Shahabuddeen), Tarfusser, Van den Wyngaert Shahabuddeen did not take office in 2009 Saiga died in 2009 Fernandez de Gurmendi, Ozaki elected in 2009		2009–2012
2012–2015			Carmona, Defensor-Santiago, Eboe-Osuji, Fremr, Herrera Carbuccia, Morrison Carmona resigned in 2013 Henderson elected in 2013 Defensor-Santiago resigned in 2014 Pangalangan elected in 2015	2012–2015
2015–2018	Chung, Hofmański, Kovács, Mindua, Perrin de Brichambaut, Schmitt			2015–2018
2018–2021		Ibáñez, Akane, Alapini-Gansou, Bossa, Prost, Aitala elected in 2017^[35]		2018–2021
2021–2024			Korner, Lordkipanidze, Samba, Flores Liera, Ugalde, Alexis-Windsor elected in 2020^[36]	2021–2024
2024-2027	Damdin, Motoc, Guillou, Hohler, Ben Mahfoudh, Paek elected in 2023^[37]			2024-2027
2027-2030				2027-2030

Notes and References

1. https://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/99_corr/4.htm Article 36, paragraph 9
2. https://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/99_corr/4.htm Article 36
3. International Criminal Court (10 September 2004). Web site: Procedure for the nomination and election of judges of the International Criminal Court . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20071009093032/http://www.icc-cpi.int/library/asp/ICC-ASP-3-Res6_English.pdf . 9 October 2007 .  . Retrieved 16 October 2007.
4. Coalition for the International Criminal Court. Election of ICC and ASP Officials – Judges. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
5. United Nations (2003). Nominations for judges of the International Criminal Court – First election . Retrieved 18 January 2008.
6. Coalition for the International Criminal Court. First Election – 2003. Retrieved 28 January 2008.
7. Coalition for the International Criminal Court. Judges and the Presidency. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
8. UN News Centre (26 January 2006). At UN, 6 judges elected to the International Criminal Court. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
9. United Nations Department of Public Information (26 January 2006). States Parties to the International Criminal Court statute elect six judges. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
10. International Criminal Court (4 December 2007). Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute elects three judges. Retrieved 5 December 2007.
11. International Criminal Court (2007). Election 2007. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
12. International Criminal Court (4 December 2007). Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute elects three judges . Retrieved 5 December 2007.
13. International Criminal Court (28 November 2007). Web site: Election of judges of the International Criminal Court: Frequently asked questions .  . Retrieved 5 December 2007.
14. International Criminal Court (20 January 2009). Results of the third election of the judges of the International Criminal Court. Retrieved 20 January 2009.
15. International Criminal Court (2008). Election of judges 2009. Retrieved 1 September 2008.
16. International Criminal Court (5 December 2008). Web site: Third election of judges of the International Criminal Court . . Retrieved 20 January 2009.
17. https://web.archive.org/web/20110807092859/http://www.icc-cpi.int/Menus/ASP/Elections/Judges/2009_2/Results/Final%2BResults.htm ICC information page on the November 2009 election of judges
18. https://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/99_corr/4.htm Article 41
19. https://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/99_corr/4.htm Article 46
20. International Criminal Court. The Presidency. Retrieved 21 July 2007.
21. International Criminal Court (11 March 2009). Judge Song (Republic of Korea) elected President of the International Criminal Court; Judges Diarra (Mali) and Kaul (Germany) elected First and Second Vice-Presidents respectively . Retrieved 11 March 2009.
22. https://www.un.org/law/icc/statute/99_corr/4.htm Article 38
23. Web site: 2024-03-11. New ICC Presidency elected for 2024-2027. en-GB. 2024-03-11.
24. International Criminal Court. Chambers. Retrieved 21 July 2007.
25. Web site: Judges Who's who International Criminal Court . 2024-03-11 . www.icc-cpi.int.
26. https://www.icc-cpi.int/news/icc-presidency-assigns-judges-judicial-divisions-and-chambers-2 ICC Presidency assigns judges to judicial divisions and Chambers
27. International Criminal Court (11 December 2006). Resignation of Judge Maureen Harding Clark. Retrieved 18 January 2008.
28. International Criminal Court (8 May 2007). Resignation of Judge Claude Jorda . Retrieved 18 January 2008.
29. International Criminal Court (19 March 2007). Resignation of Judge Karl T. Hudson-Phillips . Retrieved 18 January 2008.
30. International Criminal Court (30 July 2008). Resignation of Judge Navanethem Pillay . Retrieved 1 September 2008.
31. International Criminal Court (24 April 2009). Passing of Judge Fumiko Saiga . Retrieved 29 April 2009.
32. Web site: Miriam quits as ICC judge. .
33. http://www.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/icc/press%20and%20media/press%20releases/Pages/pr1023.aspx Resignation of ICC Judge Hans-Peter Kaul
34. International Criminal Court (18 February 2009). Resignation of Mr. Mohamed Shahabuddeen . Retrieved 18 February 2009.
35. Web site: 2017 - Election of six judges – Results. International Criminal Court. 22 January 2020.
36. https://asp.icc-cpi.int/en_menus/asp/elections/judges/2020/Pages/Results.aspx  2020 Election of six judges Results (icc-cpi.int)
37. Web site: 2023 - Election of six judges – Results. International Criminal Court. 11 March 2024.