News

Three women elected to the bench of the ICC

Today six judges were elected to the International Criminal Court during the resumed session of the 4th Assembly of States Parties.                            

‘Half of the six judges elected today are women, bringing the overall number of women on the bench of the ICC to 8 out of a total of 18 judges on the Court’ said Brigid Inder, Executive Director of the Women’s Initiatives for Gender Justice.

‘This is unprecedented for international elections, particularly when you consider that of the 260 judges serving on international and regional judicial institutions, only 49 are women. Today’s result further implements the principle of fair representation of male and female judges as mandated by the Rome Statute of the ICC. It is another step in the right direction’ said Ms Inder

The election gives further geographical representation to eastern europe which until this election only had one judge on the Court. However Asia/Pacific loses one judge and reduces their representation on the bench with the loss of the only judge from the Pacific on the ICC.

In each of the three situations (Uganda, Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Darfur) currently under investigation by the ICC, gender based crimes are widespread and systematic. Gender competence amongst the judges, both male and female, is crucial if the ICC is to be a court of gender-inclusive justice for those most affected by armed conflict.

Judges Elected to the ICC:

TRENDAFILOVA, Ekaterina (Bulgaria) with 82 votes
UŠACKA, Anita (Latvia) with 77 votes
KOURULA, Erkki (Finland) with 73 votes
KUENYEHIA, Akua (Ghana) with 72 votes
SONG, Sang-hyun (Republic of Korea) with 70 votes
KAUL, Hans-Peter (Germany) with 67 votes