ICJ election: Dalveer Bhandari in impasse with UK representative

Former Supreme Court judge and current member of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) Dalveer Bhandari is facing a tough battle for his re-election to the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.

Yesterday, the deadlock between Bhandari and UK candidate Christopher Greenwood could not be broken, as neither could obtain a majority in the UN General Assembly and the Security Council.

Members of the ICJ are elected for nine-year terms, and one-third of the membership is renewed every three years. They are elected by the UN General Assembly and the Security Council, which vote at the same time but independently of each other.

In order to be elected to the ICJ, a candidate must obtain simple majority in the both the organs of the UN. That is to say, a successful candidate must get 97 votes in the General Assembly and 8 votes in the Security Council.

When the matter was put to vote yesterday, Greenwood won the Security Council vote by 9 votes to 5. However, the General Assembly voted in favour of Bhandari, who got 121 votes. An election held last Thursday met with a similar fate.

And now the fate of the seat hangs in the balance, with the General Assembly and the Security Council to fix the next date of election after consultation with each other.

Elected in 2012, Bhandari is the fourth Indian to be a member of the ICJ. The UK, on the other hand, being a P5 member, has had an ICJ representative since 1946.

Bhandari was elevated to the bench as a judge of the Delhi High Court in 1991. In 2004, he was made Chief Justice of the Bombay High Court, before being elevated to the Supreme Court in 2005.

Watch the Security Council election here.

Image taken from here.