Kenya’s Phoebe Okowa elected International Court of Justice judge

Kenya’s Phoebe Okowa has won a full nine-year term as a judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), extending her tenure on a tribunal on which she was already serving.

Prof Okowa had to dig deep in a contest before both the UN General Assembly and the UN Security Council, securing the seat in the third round of voting, but after most contenders had dropped out of the race.

She garnered 183 votes in the UN General Assembly, while her remaining challenger, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, received two votes. There were six abstentions in the final ballot, in an election that initially involved 191 member states at the UN headquarters in New York on Tuesday.

Prof Okowa also secured an absolute majority in the UN Security Council, overcoming an earlier setback in which she had garnered only six of the 15 votes.

Okowa has been serving on the ICJ bench since last year, when she was elected to complete the term of Somali judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, who resigned before his tenure was due to end in January 2027.

African Union

The race evolved into an African contest after the African Union failed to persuade either Prof Okowa or Sierra Leonean jurist Charles Chernor Jalloh to withdraw. In the second round, Okowa garnered 89 votes, making her the only remaining candidate to secure an absolute majority in the General Assembly. However, she was not elected at that stage because she had not secured sufficient support in the Security Council. Jalloh received 30 votes.

The election of ICJ judges requires candidates to secure majority support in both the General Assembly and the Security Council simultaneously. By that stage, the UN had already declared Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud (Jordan), Dapo Akande (United Kingdom), Rena Lee (Singapore) and François Alabrune (France) duly elected after they secured majorities in both bodies.

However, the UN still needed one more judge to fill the five vacancies on the bench. Following the second round, Charles Chernor Jalloh (Sierra Leone), Paik Jin-Hyun (Republic of Korea) and Marcelo Vázquez-Bermúdez (Ecuador) withdrew from the contest.

Peru’s candidate remained in the race until the final round. In total, nine candidates had sought election to replace judges from Brazil, India, Kenya, France and Jordan.

Prof Okowa, 61, is a Kenyan scholar of international law who has also served on the UN International Law Commission.

Judicial responsibilities

Although Kenya actively campaigned for her election, she will not sit on the bench as a representative of the country. This means she may hear cases involving Kenya and is expected to make independent decisions in accordance with her judicial responsibilities.

Nonetheless, Kenya told UN members that Prof Okowa's expertise would help guide the global court in upholding a rules-based international order.

“Our submissions urged the members of the UN present to reflect on the kind of Court our international community needs,” said Korir Sing’oei, Kenya’s Principal Secretary for Foreign Affairs, at the conclusion of the campaign in New York on Wednesday.

“The principles that must guide its composition, and the qualities required of those entrusted with interpreting and applying international law at this consequential moment in our shared history. Prof Okowa meets these demanding standards admirably, and we commended her candidature to all.”

The ICJ, which has a bench of 15 judges, primarily hears disputes between states. It may also issue advisory opinions at the request of the UN General Assembly. It should not be confused with the International Criminal Court (ICC), a separate court that deals with the criminal responsibility of individuals accused of serious international crimes.

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