Section 46p. 46

PUBLIC INTERNATIONAL LAW COMPENDIUM VOLUME I

Statute of the International Court of

Justice

Article 1

The International Court of Justice established by the

Charter of the United Nations as the principal judicial

organ of the United Nations shall be constituted and shall

function in accordance with the provisions of the present

Statute.

CHAPTER I ORGANIZATION OF THE COURT

Article 2

The Court shall be composed of a body of independent

judges,

elected

regardless

of

their

nationality

from

among persons of high moral character, who possess the

qualifications required in their respective countries for

appointment

to

the

highest

judicial

offices,

or

are

jurisconsults of recognized competence in international

law.

Article 3

1. The Court shall consist of fifteen members, no two of

whom may be nationals of the same state.

2. A person who for the purposes of membership in the

Court could be regarded as a national of more than one

state shall be deemed to be a national of the one in which

he ordinarily exercises civil and political rights.

Article 4

1. The members of the Court shall be elected by the

General Assembly and by the Security Council from a list

of persons nominated by the national groups in the

Permanent Court of Arbitration, in accordance with the

following provisions.

2. In the case of Members of the United Nations not

represented

in

the

Permanent

Court

of

Arbitration,

candidates

shall

be

nominated

by

national

groups

appointed for this purpose by their governments under

the same conditions as those prescribed for members of

the Permanent Court of Arbitration by Article 44 of the

Convention

of

The

Hague

of

1907

for

the

pacific

settlement of international disputes.

3. The conditions under which a state which is a party to

the present Statute but is not a Member of the United

Nations may participate in electing the members of the

Court shall, in the absence of a special agreement, be laid

down by the General Assembly upon recommendation of

the Security Council.

Article 5

1. At least three months before the date of the election,

the Secretary-General of the United Nations shall address

a written request to the members of the Permanent

Court of Arbitration belonging to the states which are

parties to the present Statute, and to the members of the

national groups appointed under Article 4, paragraph 2,

inviting them to undertake, within a given time, by

national groups, the nomination of persons in a position

to accept the duties of a member of the Court.

2. No group may nominate more than four persons, not

more than two of whom shall be of their own nationality.

In no case may the number of candidates nominated by a

group be more than double the number of seats to be

filled.

Article 6

Before making these nominations, each national group is

recommended to consult its highest court of justice, its

legal

faculties

and

schools

of

law,

and its national

academies

and

national

sections

of

international

academies devoted to the study of law.

Article 7

1. The Secretary-General shall prepare a list in alphabetical

order of all the persons thus nominated. Save as provided

in Article 12, paragraph 2, these shall be the only persons

eligible.

2. The Secretary-General shall submit this list to the

General Assembly and to the Security Council.

Article 8

The General Assembly and the Security Council shall

proceed

independently of one another to elect the

members of the Court.

Article 9

At every election, the electors shall bear in mind not only

that the persons to be elected should individually possess

the qualifications required, but also that in the body as a

whole the representation of the main forms of civilization

and of the principal legal systems of the world should be

assured.

Article 10

1. Those candidates who obtain an absolute majority of

votes in the General Assembly and in the Security Council

shall be considered as elected.

2. Any vote of the Security Council, whether for the

election of judges or for the appointment of members of

the conference envisaged in Article 12, shall be taken

without

any

distinction

between

permanent

and

non-permanent members of the Security Council.

3. In the event of more than one national of the same

state obtaining an absolute majority of the votes both of

the General Assembly and of the Security Council, the

eldest of these only shall be considered as elected.

Article 11

If, after the first meeting held for the purpose of the

election, one or more seats remain to be filled, a second

and, if necessary, a third meeting shall take place.

Article 12

1. If, after the third meeting, one or more seats still remain

unfilled, a joint conference consisting of six members,

three appointed by the General Assembly and three by

the Security Council, may be formed at any time at the

request of either the General Assembly or the Security

Council, for the purpose of choosing by the vote of an

absolute majority one name for each seat still vacant, to

submit to the General Assembly and the Security Council

for their respective acceptance.

2. If the joint conference is unanimously agreed upon any

person who fulfills the required conditions, he may be

included in its list, even though he was not included in

the list of nominations referred to in Article 7.

3. If the joint conference is satisfied that it will not be

successful in procuring an election, those members of the

Court who have already been elected shall, within a

period to be fixed by the Security Council, proceed to fill

the

vacant

seats

by

selection

from

among

those

candidates who have obtained votes either in the General

Assembly or in the Security Council.

4. In the event of an equality of votes among the judges,

the eldest judge shall have a casting vote.

Article 13

1. The members of the Court shall be elected for nine

years and may be re-elected; provided, however, that of

the judges elected at the first election, the terms of five

judges shall expire at the end of three years and the

terms of five more judges shall expire at the end of six

years.

2. The judges whose terms are to expire at the end of the

above-mentioned initial periods of three and six years

shall

be

chosen

by

lot

to

be

drawn

by

the

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