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Election of a member of the International Court of Justice - Security Council, 10040th meeting
After three rounds of balloting, the Security Council today elected Phoebe Okowa (Kenya) as a member of the International Court of Justice, voting concurrently with — but separately from — the General Assembly.
Security Council Elects Phoebe Okowa of Kenya to International Court of Justice
Memorandum by the Secretary-General on the Election of a member of the International Court of Justice (S/2025/605) Note by the Secretary-General on the Election of a member of the International Court of Justice: list of nominations by national groups (S/2025/606) Note by the Secretary-General on the Election of a member of the International Court of Justice: curricula vitae of the candidates nominated by national groups (S/2025/607).
Meeting 10039 contained 2 vote procedures and neither produced a majority vote. The vote carried into the next meeting 10040, in which a final vote resulted in a majority for Phoebe Okowan attorney in International Law from Kenya.
After three rounds of balloting, the Security Council today elected Phoebe Okowa (Kenya) as a member of the International Court of Justice, voting concurrently with — but separately from — the General Assembly.
The election was held to fill the seat left vacant by the resignation of Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf of Somalia, effective 30 September 2025.
The judge elected will serve until the end of the original term on 5 February 2027.
Four candidates had been officially nominated by their national groups: Taoheed Olufemi Elias (Nigeria), nominated by Bahrain, Italy, Latvia, Jordan, Malta, Nigeria and the Philippines; Charles Chernor Jalloh (Sierra Leone), nominated by South Africa, Burkina Faso, Canada, Ecuador, Liechtenstein, Sierra Leone and the Czech Republic; Paul Kuruk (Ghana), nominated by Ghana; and Ms. Okowa, nominated by South Africa, Colombia, Kenya, Namibia, the Netherlands, Romania, Sweden and Vanuatu.
After the first round, Ms. Okowa received 6 votes and Mr. Jalloh 5, while Mr. Elias received 3 and Mr. Kuruk received 1 before withdrawing from the race.
In the second round in the Council, Mr. Elias received 1 vote, compared with 6 for Ms. Okowa and 8 for Mr. Jalloh, after which the former also withdrew.
Although Mr. Jalloh secured the required majority in the Chamber, a third round of voting was necessary because the General Assembly reached a different result, giving an absolute majority to Ms. Okowa.
As no candidate obtained an absolute majority in both the Assembly and the Council, and in accordance with Article 11 of the Court’s statute, both organs opened new meetings to proceed with another round of voting, with the candidature of Mr. Elias withdrawn.
A final round of voting in both organs resolved the divergence. Ultimately, the Security Council and the General Assembly elected Ms. Okowa to the Court. She received 8 votes in the Council and 106 in the Assembly, defeating Mr. Jalloh who obtained 7 and 79 votes respectively. Her term begins today, 12 November, and will run until 5 February 2027.