Five judges have been elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), including the first British judge in nine years and the first judge from Singapore.
The judges were elected to the UN's principal judicial body, which is based in The Hague, following votes in the UN General Assembly and Security Council in New York on Tuesday.
Professor Dapo Akande becomes the first UK representative on the court since Sir Christopher Greenwood KC failed to secure re-election in 2017, ending Britain's uninterrupted representation on the court since its establishment in 1946.
Singapore’s first judge on the court, meanwhile, is Rena Lee, a former ambassador and career diplomat specialising in international law, who has been elected to serve a nine-year term beginning on 6 February 2027.
A third new judge to be elected is François Alabrune, France’s ambassador to the Netherlands, who succeeds compatriot Ronny Abraham. India’s Dalveer Bhandari and Brazil’s Leonardo Nemer Caldeira Brant are also leaving the court, while sitting judges Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan and Phoebe Okowa of Kenya have been re-elected.
Akande, who is a member of Essex Court Chambers, is qualified in Nigeria and England and Wales, and is the current Chichele Professor of Public International Law at the University of Oxford, a fellow of All Souls College and a member of the UN International Law Commission.
Kirsty Brimelow KC, chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales, said he would be “a superb appointment”, while UK justice secretary and Lord Chancellor Alex Norris said Akande would “make a formidable contribution to its [the ICJ's] work”.
Norris added that “at a moment when international law is under pressure, [he] brings the independence, legal rigour, judgment and breadth of perspective that the court needs”.
UK prime minister Andy Burnham said Akande’s election was “a clear signal to our partners that the UK is back on the world stage and ready to play our part in ensuring global stability and upholding the rule of law".
Akande, who was elected for nine years, said he was grateful to be appointed, and pledged “to serve with independence and to decide cases on the basis of a faithful and impartial application of the law.”
He added: “I look forward to contributing to the ICJ’s vital work in helping to resolve disputes by peaceful means, alongside the other colleagues elected today.”
Singapore’s Minister for Law Edwin Tong SC called Lee's election a “strong affirmation of confidence in Rena, amidst a very strong field of candidates.”
He added: “Singapore’s candidature, our very first, represents the value we see in upholding the international rule of law, particularly as a small state, supporting a rule-based multilateral system.”
Alabrune, also a career diplomat, is the French ambassador to the Netherlands and a former director of legal affairs at the French Foreign Ministry.
The five positions represent a third of the court’s 15 seats, with judges elected for nine-year terms and five seats coming up for election every three years.
Japan, Uganda, Slovakia, China, Germany, Australia, Mexico, the United States, Romania and South Africa are also represented on the ICJ.
Former ICJ president and US judge Joan Donoghue, who served on the court from 2010 to 2024, joined London barristers’ chambers Twenty Essex as an arbitrator in 2025.
Email your news and story ideas to: [email protected]
