Historic first: Russia fails to secure seat in UN International Court of Justice

UN member states denied Russia the right to administer justice at the UN International Court of Justice for the first time in history, stated President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The Russian representative was not elected to the judicial body of the organization.

“The UN has begun to cleanse itself of Russia’s malicious influence. … The world sees who destroys international law instead of protecting it,” Zelenskyy said. 

During the nomination from the region of Eastern Europe, the Russian judge lost to the representative of Romania, the former Minister of Foreign Affairs Bogdan Aurescu.

“Today’s election of Professor of International Law Bogdan Aurescu, former Minister of Foreign Affairs of Romania, as a judge of the International Court of Justice of the United Nations means that for the first time, there will be no Soviet/Russian judge at the “World Court” in The Hague,” explained Mykola Hnatovskyi, Ukrainian international lawyer, judge of the European Court of Human Rights

117 members of the UN General Assembly voted for the representative of Romania. While the Russian candidate received only 77 votes, European Pravda cites sources.

Nominees from Mexico, the USA, Australia, and the Republic of South Africa also won. “Congratulations to representatives of Australia, Mexico, Romania, South Africa, and the U.S. for winning votes for ICJ in both UNSC and UNGA,” Zelenskyy wrote. 

The UN International Court of Justice consists of 15 judges. Five new judges are elected every three years. Each judge represents a certain regional group of countries and must secure the support of members of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly.

“This is the second case when a permanent member of the Security Council will not be represented at the UN International Court of Justice (the first was Great Britain in 2017),” Hnatovskyi added.

Currently, the International Court of Justice of the United Nations is considering several complaints of Ukraine against Russia, in particular, that Russia justified the full-scale invasion with the invented “genocide in Donbas.”