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THIS WEEK: Ugandan appointed to ICC
Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | After four rounds of voting in the ongoing judicial election to the International Criminal Court (ICC), Justice Solomy Balungi Bossa has been elected to be a judge at the Hague-based Court.
Japan and Peru’s candidates Tomoko Akane and Bañez Carranza Luz Del Carmen with 88 and 77 votes respectively, were the first to be elected, coming top in round one. Six places are being filled.
Uganda’s Permanent Representative to the UN Adonio Ayebare confirmed the result saying “Glad to announce the election of Justice Barungi Bosa of Uganda as Judge of the ICC. Thank you team Uganda,” he tweeted. After round one, Justice Bossa was third best with 67 votes, and had to go into the next round, which she topped with 71 votes but did not get the minimum 79 votes required. Bossa (81 votes) and Benin’s candidate Alapini-Gansou Reine hit the mark in the 4th round of voting, to join the ICC judges list.
ICC member states had nominated 12 candidates for election to six vacant judicial positions at The Hague-based Court. ICC member states Lesotho, Uganda, Croatia, Mongolia, Benin, Japan, Bosnia, Peru, Uruguay, Canada, Ghana and Italy were nominated
The election of judges at the 16th Assembly of States Parties (ASP) session in New York, follows the Court’s regular judicial elections process, which replaces a third of the 18 judges’ bench every three years. The new judges will serve a nine-year term from March 2018.
Bossa joins another Ugandan high profile judge on the international stage, Julia Sebutinde who has been on the UN’s International Court of Justice since 2012.
