A seasoned diplomat and legal scholar from Jordan was elected on Tuesday to serve as a judge at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations’ principal judicial body.

Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud was appointed following a parallel and independent voting process in the General Assembly and Security Council, conducted by secret ballot.

He will fill the vacancy left by former ICJ President Nawaf Salam of Lebanon, who resigned in January to become the country’s Prime Minister.

He will hold office for the remainder of Judge Salam’s term, which was set to end on 5 February 2027.

Absolute majority

Hmoud was the sole person vying for the slot and he was nominated by Egypt, Jordan, Romania, Slovakia and Sweden.

Candidates must secure an absolute majority in both the General Assembly and the Security Council, or 97 and eight votes respectively.

All 15 Council members voted in his favour while in the General Assembly, which comprises all 193 UN Member States, he received the support of 178 out of 181 countries who took part in the vote.  Three countries abstained.

Hmoud has been Jordan’s Ambassador to the UN in New York since September 2021 and his other postings include Legal Adviser and Director of the Legal Department in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.

He is also a former chairman and member of the International Law Commission, a UN expert body that promotes the development and codification of international law.

The ‘world court’

The ICJ, informally known as the “world court”, settles legal disputes between UN Member States and gives advisory opinions on legal questions that have been referred to it by UN organs and agencies.

It has been in the spotlight following an advisory opinion, issued last July, which said that Israel’s occupation of the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, “is unlawful.”

Last month, hearings began into Israel’s continuing restriction on the work of UN and other international agencies operating in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories (OPT).

The Court is composed of 15 judges who serve nine-year terms. Five seats come up for election every three years and there is no bar on consecutive terms.

Judges are chosen on the basis of their qualifications, not their nationality; however, no two judges can be from the same country.

The ICJ was established in June 1945 and is based at the Peace Palace in The Hague, a city in the Netherlands.

It is one of the six main organs of the UN – alongside the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), the Trusteeship Council, and the Secretariat – and is the only one not based in New York.