South Africa’s candidate, Professor Dire Tladi, has been elected to the International Court of Justice – the first citizen of the Republic to serve in this capacity.
His election comes after several ballots were conducted in both the UN General Assembly and the Security Council simultaneously.
The institution, also known as the World Court, based in The Hague, consists of 15 judges elected for 9-year terms and settles disputes between states in accordance with international law and gives advisory opinions on questions of international law.
BREAKING: Prof Dire Tladi has just been elected to a 9-year term on the International Court of Justice after several rounds of voting. He becomes the first South African to serve as a judge on the Court.#sabcnews https://t.co/7vR4TWUiBR
— Sherwin Bryce-Pease (@sherwiebp) November 9, 2023
The Court is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and can now add to its bench a leading international law scholar whose expertise covers academia, government service, and diplomacy.
Professor Tladi is currently an international law expert at the University of Pretoria, where he holds the National Research Foundation South African Research Chairs Initiative in International Constitutional Law and the Future Africa Chair in Global Justice for Africa.
He was also Lead Counsel for South Africa before the International Criminal Court Pre-trial Chamber and served as principal law advisor in the Department of International Relations among other distinctions.
He will begin his 9-year term in February.
