For the first time, a representative of Russia was not included in the International Court of Justice

Russian Kirill Gevorgyan failed to be re-elected to the UN International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague, where he had worked since 2015. Thus, for the first time, there will be no representatives of Russia in this body since the founding of the court, created in 1946.

Members of the International Court of Justice are elected by vote of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly. The term of office of Mr. Gevorgyan and five other judges expired in February 2024; the Russian tried to be re-elected to the court, but failed to receive a sufficient number of votes.

As a result, the new judges were Bogdan Aurescu (Romania), Sarah Hull Cleveland (USA), Juan Robledo (Mexico), Hilary Charlesworth (Australia) and Tladi Dire (South Africa), reported on the court’s website. Their term of office will be nine years and will count from February 2024. Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky said in his Telegram channel that this voting result was the result of “international lobbying” by Kyiv and its partners.

The International Court of Justice is one of the six main organs of the UN, established to achieve one of the main purposes of the UN: “to carry out by peaceful means, in accordance with the principles of justice and international law, the settlement or resolution of international disputes or situations which may lead to a breach of the peace.” Russia recognizes the jurisdiction of this instance, but disputes its authority to consider some disputes: in particular, according to the Russian authorities, the International Court of Justice is not authorized to consider the claim of Ukraine filed against the Russian Federation after the start of the military operation in Ukraine.

Alexander Kislov