Security Council fixes date to fill vacancy on International Court of Justice

The Security Council today decided that an election will be held next February to fill a vacancy on the International Court of Justice (ICJ) created by the resignation of Judge Gilbert Guillaume.

Judge Guillaume, the past President of the 15-member ICJ, the highest judicial organ of the United Nations, will step down from the court on 11 February 2005.

The election to choose Judge Guillaume’s successor, who will complete the remaining four years left in his the term, was fixed for 15 February 2005 and will take place in both the Security Council and the General Assembly, according to the Court’s rules.

Judge Guillaume, 73, has been a member of the Court since 14 September 1987, and served as its President from 7 February 2000 to 6 February 2003.

Based in The Hague, the ICJ settles legal disputes submitted to it by States, and gives advisory opinions on legal questions referred by certain international bodies.