Judge Dalveer Bhandari re-elected to ICJ

One-third of the ICJ's 15-member bench, or five judges, is elected every three years for a nine-year term. Elections are held separately but simultaneously in the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) and the UN Security Council in New York. To win, a candidate needs to get a majority in both chambers.

India's Dalveer Bhandari, 70, has been re-elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), winning the last of five seats for which elections were held, after Britain pulled out its candidate Christopher Greenwood before the 12th round of voting. For 11 rounds, the two were locked in a stalemate with Justice Bhandari getting majority support in the United Nations General Assembly and Justice Greenwood in the UN Security Council, both of which vote in elections to the world court. Prime Minister Narendra Modi has called it "a proud moment for us."

Prime Minister Narendra Modi credited on Tuesday the efforts of external affairs minister Sushma Swaraj and foreign ministry officials for the re-election of Dalveer Bhandari to the International Court of Justice.

Bhandari sailed through after Britain withdrew its candidate from a hard-fought race to the World Court. Bhandari and UK’s Christopher Greenwood were locked in a neck-and-neck fight for re-election, as the UN could not decide between them after electing four out of five judges to the ICJ.

After the results came out, PM Modi expressed gratitude to members of the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council for “their support and trust in India.”

Bhandari, 70, received 183-193 votes at the General Assembly and secured all 15 votes in the Security Council to fill the final vacancy on the ICJ after separate but simultaneous elections were held at the UN headquarters in New York.

For its part, Britain congratulated Bhandari and said it will continue to cooperate closely with India at the United Nations and globally.

Matthew Rycroft, Britain’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said in a statement that his country decided to withdraw Greenwood’s candidature.

Rycroft said the UK will continue to support the work of the ICJ “in line with our commitment to the importance of the rule of law in the UN system and in the international community more generally”.

Britain’s withdrawal from the election to the prestigious world court would mean that there will not be a British judge on the UN’s most powerful court for the first time in its history.

Based in The Hague, the ICJ has a bench of 15 judges, five of whom are elected every three years for a nine-year term.

Established in 1945, the role of the ICJ is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by states and to give advisory opinions on legal questions.