2003 International Criminal Court judges election

An ordinary election for the first full bench of 18 judges of the International Criminal Court was held during the first resumption of the 1st session of the Assembly of States Parties to the Rome Statute in New York between 4 and 7 February 2003. == Background == The judges elected at this election were to take office on 11 March 2003. Six judges were to remain in office until 2006 (re-eligible), six until 2009 (not re-eligible) and another six for the whole nine-year term until 2012 (not re-eligible). The election was governed by the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court. Its article 36(8)(a) states that "[t]he States Parties shall, in the selection of judges, take into account the need, within the membership of the Court, for: (i) The representation of the principal legal systems of the world; (ii) Equitable geographical representation; and (iii) A fair representation of female and male judges." Furthermore, article 36(3)(b) and 36(5) provide for two lists: List A contains those judges that "[h]ave established competence in criminal law and procedure, and the necessary relevant experience, whether as judge, prosecutor, advocate or in other similar capacity, in criminal proceedings"; List B contains those who "[h]ave established competence in relevant areas of international law such as international humanitarian law and the law of human rights, and extensive experience in a professional legal capacity which is of relevance to the judicial work of the Court". Each candidate must belong to exactly one list. Further rules on the nomination and election of judges were adopted by the Assembly of States Parties in September 2002. == Nomination process == The nomination period for the 2003 election lasted from 9 September to 30 November 2002. The following persons were nominated: The candidatures of Luís María Benítez Riera of Paraguay and of Kocou A. Capo-Chichi of Benin were withdrawn. == Minimum voting requirements == Minimum voting requirements governed part of the election. This was to ensure that articles 36(5) and 36(8)(a) cited above were fulfilled. The following minimum voting requirements applied initially: Regarding the List A or B requirement, there was a minimum voting requirement for nine judges from List A and five judges from List B. Regarding the regional criteria, there were minimum voting requirements for three African, two Asian, two Eastern European, three Latin American and Caribbean and three Western European and other judges. The base requirement was three judges from each regional group, but this was reduced by one for the Asian and Eastern European groups because each comprised fewer than one sixth of the States Parties at the time. Regarding the gender criteria, there was a minimum voting requirement for six female and six male judges. The regional and gender requirements could be adjusted according to the number of candidates. The minimum voting requirements were also updated after each ballot to account for judges already elected. Regional and gender requirements that could no longer be jointly fulfilled were discontinued, and all remaining regional and gender requirements were dropped after the fourth ballot. The List A or B requirement remained active until a sufficient number of judges had been elected from each list. The voting requirements were as follows: == Ballots == The ballots took place from 4 to 7 February 2003. The results were as follows: The minimum voting requirements are imposed on the ballots cast, not on the results. Thus, there is no guarantee that a corresponding number of judges is elected. In this election, all but one of the targets where achieved: Note that the minimum voting requirements according to region and gender were dropped after the 4th ballot and were thus no longer being imposed when a sixth male judge and the only Eastern European judge were elected in the 9th ballot. Lots were drawn to assign the 18 elected judges to the different initial term lengths as follows: == References ==