Dapo Akande Elected to the International Court of Justice as UN Chooses Five Judges for Nine-Year Terms

The International Court of Justice, the world’s highest court for disputes between countries, has five new judges. The United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council elected them on 3 November 2026, and their nine-year terms will begin on 6 February 2027.

The five judges are Dapo Akande of the United Kingdom, François Alabrune of France, Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan, Rena Lee of Singapore and Phoebe Okowa of Kenya. Three of them — Akande, Alabrune and Lee — will join the court for the first time. Hmoud and Okowa were re-elected.

The election matters well beyond the courtroom in The Hague. The court, often called the World Court, is facing a record caseload, including South Africa’s genocide case against Israel over the war in Gaza. The judges chosen this week will help decide some of the most sensitive legal disputes in the world over the next nine years.

At a glance

• What happened: The UN General Assembly and Security Council elected five judges to the International Court of Justice on 3 November 2026.
• Who was elected: Dapo Akande (United Kingdom), François Alabrune (France), Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud (Jordan), Rena Lee (Singapore) and Phoebe Okowa (Kenya).
• When they start: Their nine-year terms begin on 6 February 2027 and run until February 2036.
• Why it matters: The court has 24 contentious cases waiting to be heard, and the new judges will shape its rulings for nearly a decade.
• The headline: Akande’s election restores a British judge to the court after an absence since 2018.

Who are the five new judges?

Dapo Akande — United Kingdom

Dapo Akande is a professor of public international law at the University of Oxford and a fellow of All Souls College, Oxford. He is also an elected member of the United Nations International Law Commission, the expert body that helps develop and codify international law. He has acted as counsel, adviser and expert before international courts, including the International Court of Justice itself.

Akande first qualified as a lawyer in Nigeria, and the British government describes him as a dual UK-Nigerian national. He is the fourth Nigerian-connected legal scholar to serve on the court. The first was Justice Charles Onyeama, who served from 1966 to 1976. He was followed by Justice Taslim Olawale Elias, who served from 1976 to 1991 and became the first African president of the court, holding that office from 1982 to 1985. Prince Bola Ajibola followed Elias, serving from 1991 to 1994.

Akande contested the seat as the United Kingdom’s candidate, not as Nigeria’s official nominee, so his election should not be mistaken for Nigeria winning a seat of its own.

François Alabrune — France

François Alabrune of France was one of the strongest performers in the vote. He received 146 votes in the General Assembly and 13 votes in the Security Council, among the highest totals in the election. He will take the seat left by Judge Ronny Abraham of France, whose term expires on 5 February 2027.

Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud — Jordan

Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan was re-elected to the court. He won 106 votes in the General Assembly and 10 in the Security Council in the first round of voting. His re-election means Jordan keeps its seat on the 15-member bench.

Rena Lee — Singapore

Rena Lee of Singapore won the most votes of any candidate in the General Assembly, with 151 votes, and 13 votes in the Security Council. She will join the court as a new judge.

Phoebe Okowa — Kenya

Phoebe Okowa of Kenya was re-elected after a contest that went to extra rounds of voting. She is the first Kenyan to sit on the court. She has served since November 2025, when she completed the remaining term of Somalia’s Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, and her election now gives her a full nine-year term of her own.

How the election works

Electing a judge to the International Court of Justice is unlike most elections at the United Nations. A candidate must win an absolute majority in two bodies at the same time: the General Assembly, where at least 97 votes are needed, and the Security Council, where at least 8 of the 15 members must agree. The two bodies vote separately, by secret ballot, at the same time.

Nine candidates stood for the five seats. Four of them won the required majorities in both bodies in the first round: Lee, Alabrune, Akande and Hmoud.

The fifth seat was harder to fill. The General Assembly backed Kenya’s Phoebe Okowa, while the Security Council backed Ecuador’s Marcelo Vázquez-Bermúdez. Because the two bodies disagreed, further rounds of voting were needed. Vázquez-Bermúdez later withdrew from the race, and Okowa then won the backing of both bodies — 183 votes in the General Assembly and 13 in the Security Council — completing the five-member slate.

The seats being filled will become vacant when the terms of five current judges expire on 5 February 2027: Ronny Abraham of France, Dalveer Bhandari of India, Leonardo Nemer Caldeira Brant of Brazil, Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan and Phoebe Okowa of Kenya. Hmoud and Okowa will simply continue in their seats for a new term.

Why Akande’s election matters

The most talked-about result of the election is the return of a British judge to the court. The United Kingdom has not held a seat on the International Court of Justice since 2018, when its candidate, Sir Christopher Greenwood, lost a contested election to India’s Dalveer Bhandari. That defeat in 2017 was the first time in the court’s history that Britain had no judge on the bench, and it was seen at the time as a blow to British standing at the United Nations.

Akande’s election ends that nine-year absence. It also reflects the court’s growing diversity. The five judges elected this week come from five different regions — Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Africa — and include two judges, Akande and Okowa, whose legal careers were shaped partly in African institutions.

For Nigeria, Akande’s election is a point of pride even though he stood as Britain’s candidate. He trained in Nigerian law before building his academic career at Oxford, and Nigerian media have celebrated him as the fourth Nigerian-connected scholar to reach the World Court.

What the court does

The International Court of Justice is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, in the Netherlands, and it has 15 judges, each serving a nine-year term. Five seats come up for election every three years, so the court changes gradually rather than all at once.

The court has two jobs. The first is to settle legal disputes between countries — over borders, territory, treaties, the use of force and the treatment of people, among other things. Only countries can bring cases, not individuals. The second job is to give advisory opinions on legal questions asked by UN bodies such as the General Assembly and the Security Council. Those opinions are not binding in the same way as a judgment, but they carry great weight in international law.

The court does not have its own police force, and it cannot force a country to obey a ruling. Its authority rests on countries accepting its judgments and on the pressure of world opinion. Even so, its decisions shape how international law is understood and applied around the world.

A court under pressure

The new judges arrive at a busy time. The court’s president, Yuji Iwasawa, told the General Assembly on 29 October that 24 contentious cases are pending before the court. They cover disputes over territory, human rights and the interpretation of international treaties.

The most closely watched case is South Africa’s case against Israel, which accuses Israel of genocide in its war in Gaza. The case is still at an early stage, and the court’s eventual ruling will be followed around the world. Other pending cases include disputes between states over borders, the treatment of migrants and the duties of countries on climate change.

The heavy caseload is one reason the election drew so much attention. The judges elected this week will spend nine years working through cases that touch on war, human rights and the rules that govern how countries treat each other. Their backgrounds — in academia, diplomacy and national courts — will shape how the court approaches those questions.

What happens next

The five judges will take their seats on 6 February 2027, the day after the outgoing judges’ terms end. Before then, they will take the oath of office at a public sitting of the court in The Hague.

The court’s work will not pause for the changeover. Hearings in pending cases continue on the court’s schedule, and the new judges will join the bench as cases come up for hearing and judgment. The first big test of the new bench may come quickly: the court is expected to hold hearings in several major cases in the first half of 2027.

For the United Kingdom, the election closes a chapter that began with the loss of its seat in 2017. For the court, it opens a new one, with five judges from five countries taking up some of the hardest legal questions in the world.

Frequently asked questions

What is the International Court of Justice?

The International Court of Justice, often called the World Court, is the main court of the United Nations. It settles legal disputes between countries and gives advisory opinions on questions of international law. It is based in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, and has 15 judges.

How are judges of the court elected?

Judges are elected by the UN General Assembly and the Security Council voting separately, at the same time, by secret ballot. A candidate must win an absolute majority in both bodies — at least 97 votes in the General Assembly and at least 8 votes in the Security Council. Judges serve nine-year terms, and five of the 15 seats are filled every three years.

Who is Dapo Akande?

Dapo Akande is a professor of public international law at the University of Oxford and a fellow of All Souls College. He is a member of the UN International Law Commission and has acted as counsel and adviser before international courts. He first qualified as a lawyer in Nigeria and is a dual UK-Nigerian national. He was elected as the United Kingdom’s candidate.

Why is a British judge returning to the court significant?

The United Kingdom had no judge on the court since 2018, after its candidate lost the 2017 election to India’s Dalveer Bhandari. That was the first time Britain had no judge on the bench. Akande’s election restores British representation after a nine-year absence.

When do the new judges start work?

Their nine-year terms begin on 6 February 2027. They will take the oath of office at a public sitting of the court in The Hague before joining the bench.

What cases is the court handling now?

The court’s president told the General Assembly that 24 contentious cases are pending, covering territory, human rights and treaties. The best-known is South Africa’s genocide case against Israel over the war in Gaza.

Sources

• https://media.un.org/unifeed/en/asset/d367/d3678422
• https://transcripts.un.org/en/sc/10261.txt
• https://aljazeeranews-3fuh52rgrl.edgeone.app/news/2026/11/4/un-elects-five-judges-to-international-court-of-justice-amid-record-cases
• https://diplomaticwatch.com/five-jurists-elected-to-international-court-of-justice-as-kenya-france-jordan-singapore-and-uk-secure-seats/
• https://theinsight.com.ng/dapo-akande-becomes-4th-nigerian-to-serve-on-the-icj/
• https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:1_dapo_akande_2022.jpg

This article is for general information and education only. It is not legal or financial advice.