# 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 of the International Criminal Court in New York between 3 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.

## Nomination process

Following the rules, the nomination period of judges for the 2003 election lasted from 9 September to 30 November 2002. The following persons were nominated:
| Name | Nationality | List A or B | Region | Gender |
| René Blattmann | Bolivia | List B | Latin American and Caribbean States | Male |
| Antonio Boggiano [es] | Argentina | List B | Latin American and Caribbean States | Male |
| Marc Bossuyt | Belgium | List B | Western European and Other States | Male |
| Maureen Harding Clark | Ireland | List A | Western European and Other States | Female |
| Ion Diaconu | Romania | List B | Eastern European States | Male |
| Fatoumata Dembélé Diarra | Mali | List A | African States | Female |
| Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikhan | Mongolia | List B | Asian States | Male |
| Adrian Fulford | United Kingdom | List A | Western European and Other States | Male |
| Ioannis Giannidis | Greece | List A | Western European and Other States | Male |
| Dimitar Gochev | Bulgaria | List B | Eastern European States | Male |
| Bunchhat Heng Vong | Cambodia | List B | Asian States | Male |
| Karl T. Hudson-Phillips | Trinidad and Tobago | List A | Latin American and Caribbean States | Male |
| Claude Jorda | France | List A | Western European and Other States | Male |
| Ivo Josipović | Croatia | List B | Eastern European States | Male |
| Adolphus G. Karibi-Whyte [Wikidata] | Nigeria | List A | African States | Male |
| Hajnalka Kárpáti | Hungary | List A | Eastern European States | Female |
| Joseph-Médard Katuala Kaba Kashala | Democratic Republic of the Congo | List A | African States | Male |
| Hans-Peter Kaul | Germany | List B | Western European and Other States | Male |
| Philippe Kirsch | Canada | List B | Western European and Other States | Male |
| Erkki Kourula | Finland | List B | Western European and Other States | Male |
| Akua Kuenyehia | Ghana | List B | African States | Female |
| Kamugumya S. K. Lugakingira | Tanzania | List A | African States | Male |
| Roberto MacLean Ugarteche [es] | Peru | List B | Latin American and Caribbean States | Male |
| Doudou Ndir | Senegal | List A | African States | Male |
| Rafael Nieto Navia | Colombia | List B | Latin American and Caribbean States | Male |
| Daniel D. N. Nsereko | Uganda | List B | African States | Male |
| Elizabeth Odio Benito | Costa Rica | List A | Latin American and Caribbean States | Female |
| Barbara Liliane Ott | Switzerland | List A | Western European and Other States | Female |
| Gheorghios M. Pikis | Cyprus | List A | Asian States | Male |
| Navanethem Pillay | South Africa | List B | African States | Female |
| Mauro Politi | Italy | List B | Western European and Other States | Male |
| Almiro Rodrigues [nl] | Portugal | List A | Western European and Other States | Male |
| Víctor Rodríguez-Cedeño | Venezuela | List B | Latin American and Caribbean States | Male |
| Mory Ousmane Sissoko | Nigeria | List A | African States | Male |
| Tuiloma Neroni Slade | Samoa | List A | Asian States | Male |
| Raymond C. Sock | Gambia | List B | African States | Male |
| Sang-hyun Song | South Korea | List A | Asian States | Male |
| Sylvia H. de Figueiredo Steiner | Brazil | List A | Latin American and Caribbean States | Female |
| Timoci Uluiburotu Tuivaga | Fiji | List A | Asian States | Male |
| Anita Ušacka | Latvia | List B | Eastern European States | Female |
| Juan Antonio Yáñez-Barnuevo [es] | Spain | List B | Western European and Other States | Male |
| Eleonora Zielińska [pl] | Poland | List A | Eastern European States | Female |
| Boštjan Zupančič | Slovenia | List A | Eastern European States | Male |
The candidature of Kocou A. Capo-Chichi of Benin was withdrawn.

## Minimum voting requirements

Minimum voting requirements governed part of the election. This was to ensure that article 36(8)(a) cited above is fulfilled. The following minimum voting requirements existed:
Regarding the List A or B requirement, there was a minimum voting requirement (not to be waived at any time) of 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 judges, three Latin American and Caribbean judges and three judges from Western European and Other States.
Regarding the gender criteria, there was a minimum voting requirement for six female and six male judges.
The voting requirements were as follows:
| Criterion | Voting requirement ex ante | Candidates as of now | Adjusted voting requirement | Adjusted requirement equals ex ante? |
| Lists A or B |||||
| List A | 9 | 22 | 9 | Yes |
| List B | 6 | 22 | 6 | Yes |
| Regional criteria |||||
| African states | 3 | 11 | 3 | Yes |
| Asian states | 2 | 6 | 2 | Yes |
| Eastern European states | 2 | 7 | 2 | Yes |
| Latin American and Caribbean States | 3 | 8 | 3 | Yes |
| Western European and other States | 3 | 12 | 3 | Yes |
| Gender criteria |||||
| Female | 6 | 10 | 6 | Yes |
| Male | 6 | 34 | 6 | Yes |

## Ballots

The ballots took place in February 2003.
| Name | Nationality | List A or B | Region | Gender | 1st round | 2nd round | 3rd round | 4th round | 5th round | 6th round | 7th round | 8th round | 9th round | 10th round | 11th round |
| Number of States Parties voting | Number of States Parties voting | Number of States Parties voting | Number of States Parties voting | Number of States Parties voting | 83 | 80 | 83 | 83 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 85 |
| Two-thirds majority | Two-thirds majority | Two-thirds majority | Two-thirds majority | Two-thirds majority | 56 | 54 | 56 | 56 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 57 |
| Maureen Harding Clark | Ireland | List A | Western European and Other States | Female | 65 | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected |
| Fatoumata Dembélé Diarra | Mali | List A | African States | Female | 65 | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected |
| Sang-hyun Song | South Korea | List A | Asian States | Male | 63 | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected |
| Sylvia H. de Figueiredo Steiner | Brazil | List A | Latin American and Caribbean States | Female | 61 | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected |
| Akua Kuenyehia | Ghana | List B | African States | Female | 60 | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected |
| Elizabeth Odio Benito | Costa Rica | List A | Latin American and Caribbean States | Female | 60 | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected |
| Navanethem Pillay | South Africa | List B | African States | Female | 56 | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected |
| Karl T. Hudson-Phillips | Trinidad and Tobago | List A | Latin American and Caribbean States | Male | 53 | 49 | 56 | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected |
| Gheorghios M. Pikis | Cyprus | List A | Asian States | Male | 43 | 47 | 50 | 60 | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected |
| Philippe Kirsch | Canada | List B | Western European and Other States | Male | 55 | 46 | 54 | 57 | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected |
| Erkki Kourula | Finland | List B | Western European and Other States | Male | 51 | 53 | 54 | 56 | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected |
| Adrian Fulford | United Kingdom | List A | Western European and Other States | Male | 42 | 45 | 47 | 50 | 50 | 54 | 53 | 52 | 59 | elected | elected |
| Anita Ušacka | Latvia | List B | Eastern European States | Female | 46 | 31 | 37 | 52 | 49 | 51 | 50 | 55 | 59 | elected | elected |
| Hans-Peter Kaul | Germany | List B | Western European and Other States | Male | 43 | 45 | 48 | 47 | 54 | 50 | 50 | 46 | 57 | elected | elected |
| René Blattmann | Bolivia | List B | Latin American and Caribbean States | Male | 30 | 27 | 30 | 39 | 48 | 51 | 51 | 46 | 48 | 50 | 49 |
| Mauro Politi | Italy | List B | Western European and Other States | Male | 46 | 46 | 49 | 52 | 54 | 44 | 41 | 42 | 49 | 47 | 47 |
| Claude Jorda | France | List A | Western European and Other States | Male | 43 | 43 | 43 | 46 | 45 | 44 | 46 | 43 | 46 | 45 | 45 |
| Ivo Josipović | Croatia | List B | Eastern European States | Male | 26 | 30 | 39 | 47 | 49 | 42 | 41 | 39 | 45 | 44 | 38 |
| Barbara Liliane Ott | Switzerland | List A | Western European and Other States | Female | 45 | 36 | 36 | 38 | 39 | 44 | 42 | 34 | 37 | 31 | 34 |
| Tuiloma Neroni Slade | Samoa | List A | Asian States | Male | 34 | 30 | 33 | 32 | 34 | 43 | 46 | 44 | 42 | 39 | 31 |
| Adolphus G. Karibi-Whyte [Wikidata] | Nigeria | List A | African States | Male | 30 | 19 | 21 | 30 | 27 | 37 | 37 | 33 | 36 | 29 | 30 |
| Doudou Ndir | Senegal | List A | African States | Male | 39 | 17 | 19 | 19 | 19 | 27 | 27 | 26 | 26 | 19 | 18 |
| Bunchhat Heng Vong | Cambodia | List B | Asian States | Male | 15 | 10 | 8 | 8 | 6 | 5 | 7 | 10 | 10 | 9 | 9 |
| Antonio Boggiano [es] | Argentina | List B | Latin American and Caribbean States | Male | 18 | 7 | 11 | 9 | 9 | 11 | 9 | 9 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Juan Antonio Yáñez-Barnuevo [es] | Spain | List B | Western European and Other States | Male | 28 | 24 | 22 | 35 | 26 | 21 | 17 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Boštjan Zupančič | Slovenia | List A | Eastern European States | Male | 27 | 27 | 27 | 23 | 10 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Ioannis Giannidis | Greece | List A | Western European and Other States | Male | 14 | 15 | 18 | 11 | 8 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Hajnalka Kárpáti | Hungary | List A | Eastern European States | Female | 35 | 26 | 24 | 20 | 8 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Dimitar Gochev | Bulgaria | List B | Eastern European States | Male | 18 | 18 | 20 | 21 | 5 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Eleonora Zielińska [pl] | Poland | List A | Eastern European States | Female | 36 | 26 | 24 | 15 | 5 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Ion Diaconu | Romania | List B | Eastern European States | Male | 23 | 23 | 20 | 15 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Víctor Rodríguez-Cedeño | Venezuela | List B | Latin American and Caribbean States | Male | 20 | 9 | 10 | 8 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Almiro Rodrigues [nl] | Portugal | List A | Western European and Other States | Male | 28 | 24 | 19 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Rafael Nieto Navia | Colombia | List B | Latin American and Caribbean States | Male | 16 | 7 | 8 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Mory Ousmane Sissoko | Nigeria | List A | African States | Male | 9 | 7 | 7 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Jargalsaikhany Enkhsaikhan | Mongolia | List B | Asian States | Male | 27 | 11 | 6 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Timoci Uluiburotu Tuivaga | Fiji | List A | Asian States | Male | 14 | 7 | 6 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Joseph-Médard Katuala Kaba Kashala | Democratic Republic of the Congo | List A | African States | Male | 14 | 8 | 5 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Roberto MacLean Ugarteche [es] | Peru | List B | Latin American and Caribbean States | Male | 18 | 10 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Marc Bossuyt | Belgium | List B | Western European and Other States | Male | 20 | 9 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Daniel D. N. Nsereko | Uganda | List B | African States | Male | 20 | 9 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Raymond C. Sock | Gambia | List B | African States | Male | 9 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Kamugumya S. K. Lugakingira | Tanzania | List A | African States | Male | 8 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Name | Nationality | List A or B | Region | Gender | 12th round | 13th round | 14th round | 15th round | 16th round | 17th round | 18th round | 19th round | 20th round | 21st round | 22nd round |
| Number of States Parties voting | Number of States Parties voting | Number of States Parties voting | Number of States Parties voting | Number of States Parties voting | 85 | 84 | 84 | 84 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 83 |
| Two-thirds majority | Two-thirds majority | Two-thirds majority | Two-thirds majority | Two-thirds majority | 57 | 56 | 56 | 56 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 56 |
| René Blattmann | Bolivia | List B | Latin American and Caribbean States | Male | 52 | 57 | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected |
| Mauro Politi | Italy | List B | Western European and Other States | Male | 48 | 46 | 45 | 48 | 52 | 52 | 52 | 54 | 56 | 58 | elected |
| Claude Jorda | France | List A | Western European and Other States | Male | 47 | 47 | 50 | 48 | 47 | 47 | 47 | 49 | 48 | 49 | 45 |
| Tuiloma Neroni Slade | Samoa | List A | Asian States | Male | 29 | 27 | 25 | 22 | 28 | 28 | 39 | 39 | 37 | 42 | 44 |
| Ivo Josipović | Croatia | List B | Eastern European States | Male | 40 | 42 | 37 | 41 | 40 | 41 | 45 | 42 | 39 | 37 | 40 |
| Adolphus G. Karibi-Whyte [Wikidata] | Nigeria | List A | African States | Male | 31 | 29 | 27 | 24 | 26 | 24 | 21 | 20 | 23 | 20 | 14 |
| Doudou Ndir | Senegal | List A | African States | Male | 16 | 15 | 10 | 15 | 15 | 16 | 15 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 10 |
| Barbara Liliane Ott | Switzerland | List A | Western European and Other States | Female | 33 | 31 | 25 | 22 | 19 | 17 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Bunchhat Heng Vong | Cambodia | List B | Asian States | Male | 8 | 6 | 5 | 5 | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
| Name | Nationality | List A or B | Region | Gender | 23rd round | 24th round | 25th round | 26th round | 27th round | 28th round | 29th round | 30th round | 31st round | 32nd round | 33rd round |
| Number of States Parties voting | Number of States Parties voting | Number of States Parties voting | Number of States Parties voting | Number of States Parties voting | 85 | 84 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 85 | 84 | 84 | 83 | 83 | 80 |
| Two-thirds majority | Two-thirds majority | Two-thirds majority | Two-thirds majority | Two-thirds majority | 57 | 56 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 57 | 56 | 56 | 56 | 56 | 54 |
| Tuiloma Neroni Slade | Samoa | List A | Asian States | Male | 45 | 46 | 46 | 49 | 52 | 58 | elected | elected | elected | elected | elected |
| Claude Jorda | France | List A | Western European and Other States | Male | 45 | 44 | 44 | 44 | 44 | 41 | 40 | 46 | 50 | 53 | 57 |
| Adolphus G. Karibi-Whyte [Wikidata] | Nigeria | List A | African States | Male | 24 | 20 | 19 | 17 | 19 | 16 | 12 | 8 | 3 | 6 | 23 |
| Ivo Josipović | Croatia | List B | Eastern European States | Male | 37 | 35 | 36 | 40 | 42 | 38 | 32 | 30 | 30 | 24 | withdrawn |
| Doudou Ndir | Senegal | List A | African States | Male | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn | withdrawn |
Lots were drawn to assign the 18 elected judges to the different initial term lengths as follows:
| 3 years | Tuiloma Neroni Slade Samoa | Sang-hyun Song South Korea | Hans-Peter Kaul Germany | Erkki Kourula Finland | Akua Kuenyehia Ghana | Anita Ušacka Latvia |
| 6 years | Claude Jorda France | Gheorghios M. Pikis Cyprus | René Blattmann Bolivia | Philippe Kirsch Canada | Navanethem Pillay South Africa | Mauro Politi Italy |
| 9 years | Maureen Harding Clark Ireland | Fatoumata Dembélé Diarra Mali | Adrian Fulford United Kingdom | Karl T. Hudson-Phillips Trinidad and Tobago | Elizabeth Odio Benito Costa Rica | Sylvia H. de Figueiredo Steiner Brazil |