5 jurists elected judges of Int'l Court of Justice

Five jurists were elected Tuesday by the UN Security Council and the General Assembly as judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to replace five outgoing judges.

Those elected were Dapo Akande of Britain, Francois Alabrune of France, Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan, Rena Lee of Singapore, and Phoebe Okowa of Kenya.

Among the five elected, incumbents Hmoud and Okowa were re-elected, and all will serve a nine-year term of office beginning on Feb. 6, 2027.

Hmoud and Okowa were elected to fill vacant positions in May and November 2025, respectively, for a term ending on Feb. 5, 2027. Hmoud filled the seat vacated by Judge Nawaf Salam, who left the ICJ to become the Lebanese prime minister. Okowa was elected to fill the seat held by Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf of Somalia, who resigned.

Under the Statute of the ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations, the election of its judges is conducted by secret ballot at the Security Council and the General Assembly. A candidate has to obtain an absolute majority in both chambers to get elected. Voting in the two chambers must be held concurrently but separately.

This year, both the General Assembly and the Security Council had to run three rounds to obtain a conclusive result.

The Hague-based ICJ has 15 judges elected to nine-year terms of office. To ensure a degree of continuity, five judges are elected every three years. Judges are eligible for re-election. Should a judge die or resign during his or her term of office, a special election is held to choose a judge to fill the unexpired part of the term.

The 15 judges must come from 15 different countries. 

5 jurists elected judges of Int'l Court of Justice

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said Tuesday that Russia has never closed its door to the West and remains ready to cooperate with Western countries that abandon hostile thinking towards it.

Meanwhile, Lavrov stressed that Russia does not want or plan to wage war with Europe, but is prepared if Europe decides to initiate conflict.

The prospect for direct dialogue with Europe remains unclear, Lavrov said, noting that the West is departing from the objective trend toward multipolarity globally.

Lavrov made the remarks at the fourth Minsk International Conference on Eurasian Security that opened in the Belarusian capital on Tuesday.

The event hosted by the Belarusian Foreign Ministry brought together more than 600 representatives from around 50 countries and regions.

In his opening speech, Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko noted that building a sustainable security and development model in Eurasia is a practical necessity that will benefit the world.

He said that the high level of protests across Europe should raise caution, and urged EU nations to seek avenues for cooperation.

The Belarusian president also said that the Ukrainian crisis could potentially trigger another major war and expressed hope that a peaceful resolution will be found swiftly to the conflict.

The agenda of the two-day Minsk conference includes arms control, the role of new technologies in security, and the development of the Collective Security Treaty Organization, which has six members: Armenia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Russia and Tajikistan.

Russian FM says ready to cooperate with West, but well prepared in face of conflict