India lobbies for ICJ judge post

Pitching hard for its official nominee, Justice Dalveer Bhandari, for the post of Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), India appears confident of his victory.

If the sitting judge of the Supreme Court makes it, then it will be for the first time in 21 years that India gets to occupy the key post of judge of ICJ, the principal judicial organ of the United Nations (UN), based in The Hague, Netherlands.

Justice Bhandari is locked in a direct contest with the Philippines nominee Justice Florentino P Feliciano. The election will be held in New York on April 27. The election became necessary owing to the resignation of Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh from Jordan in October 2011 after his appointment as Prime Minister of that country. The winner will fill the casual vacancy in Asia.

Speaking to Deccan Herald on the possibility of Justice Bhandari’s victory, official sources said India has been lobbying hard for the support. The candidate securing absolute majority in both the General Assembly (97 votes) and the Security Council (8 votes) will be declared elected and will have a tenure of six years (normal term nine years). He will be eligible for re-election.

Justice Bhandari (64) has vast experience in international law and familiar with the working of the UN. He will retire in September this year. He was the chairperson of the Delhi Centre of the International Law Association for several years.