Voting filled the second day of the 16^th International Criminal Court (ICC) Assembly of States Parties in New York. The voting procedures for the ICC are intentionally complex – see the explanation by Stefan Barriga over at EJILTalk! – and are designed to result in a Court with a fair representation of female and male judges, as well as a collection of judges with the depth of experience necessary to try serious international crimes.

On the first day of the Assembly, two judges were elected during two rounds of voting: Ms. Tomoko Akane (Japan) and Ms. Luz del Carmen Ibañez del Carmen (Peru). Today saw three more judges elected, from Benin, Uganda and Canada.

Before the third round of voting began, Mr. Dragomir Vukoje (Bosnia) withdrew his candidacy. While no candidates emerged with the required 2/3 majority of states present and voting in the third round of voting, the fourth round resulted in the election of Ms. Reine Alapini-Gansou (Benin) and Ms. Solomy Balungi Bossa (Uganda).

The fifth round was inconclusive. At the end of that round, the candidates from Lesotho and Uruguay withdrew. Canadian candidate Ms. Kimberly Post successful garnered the required 2/3 majority in the sixth round and was elected.

The candidate from Croatia withdrew prior to the seventh round, which then involved only the candidate from Italy, Mr. Rosario Salvatore Aitala, and the candidate from Ghana, Ms. Henrietta Joy Abena Nyarko Mensa-Bonsu. That round was inconclusive. The eighth, and likely final, round of voting will take place tomorrow morning.

After the elections, ICC member states participated in an informal consultation on the activation of the Court’s jurisdiction over the crime of aggression.

With this post, I am pleased to welcome Catherine Savard, who is attending the Assembly. She is contributing a post today on the role of the nongovernmental Coalition for an ICC within the Assembly.

Catherine is currently completing her Bachelor in Law at Laval University (Canada). She is the assistant coordinator of the Canadian Partnership for International Justice and is a member of the Partnership delegation for the 16th Assembly of the ICC. Her research interests are international criminal and humanitarian law and human rights. She recently completed a year of schooling at Åbo Akademi University’s Institute for Human Rights in Finland. At Laval University, she is involved in the International Criminal and Humanitarian Law Clinic and has undertaken research concerning the crime of aggression and the Special Tribunal for Lebanon.

Heartfelt welcome to Catherine!