Swearing-in of Mr. Gaja and Ms Sebutinde, new Members of the Court - The Court will hold a public sitting on Monday 12 March 2012 at 10 a.m. before the public hearings in the case concerning Questions

INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE

Peace Palace, Carnegieplein 2, 2517 KJ The Hague, Netherlands
Tel.: +31 (0)70 302 2323 Fax: +31 (0)70 364 9928
Website: www.icj-cij.org

Press Release
Unofficial

No. 2012/12
8 March 2012

Swearing-in of Mr. Gaja and Ms Sebutinde, new Members of the Court

The Court will hold a public sitting on Monday 12 March 2012 at 10 a.m. before the public

hearings in the case concerning Questions relating to the Obligation
to Prosecute or Extradite (Belgium v. Senegal)

THE HAGUE, 8March2012. The Internationa l Court of Justice(ICJ) will hold a public
sitting on Monday 1March2012 at 10a.m ., during which Mr. iorgGaja and
MsJuliaSebutinde, new Members of the Court, wi ll make the solemn declaration provided for in
Article 20 of the Statute of the Court.

Article20 stipulates that “[e]very Member of the Court shall, before taking up his duties,
make a solemn declaration in open court that he will exercise his powers impartially and
conscientiously”.

Mr.Gaja (Italy) and MsSebutinde (Uganda) were elected Members of the Court by the

General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations on 10November2011 and
13 December 2011 respectively. The biographical note and official photograph of each Member of
the Court can be found on the Court’s website ( www.icj-cij.org) under the heading “The
Court/Members of the Court/Current Members”.

After the sitting, the Court will retire briefly. It will return to the Great Hall of Justice
shortly afterwards to begin the pub lic hearings in the case concerninQuestions relating to the
Obligation to Prosecute or Extradite (Belgium v. Senegal).

It should be noted that the Court is currently composed of only 14Members, following the

resignation of Mr. Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh (Jordan), former judge and Vice-President of the
Court. It is recalled (see also Press Release No. 2012/1) that the United Nations Security Council
has fixed Friday 27 April 2012 as the date for the el ection, by the Security Council and the General
Assembly, of a successor to Mr. Al-Khasawneh.

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The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations.
It was established by the United Nations Char ter in June1945 and began its activities in
April1946. The seat of the Court is at the Peace Palace in The Hague (Netherlands). Of the six
principal organs of the United Nations, it is the only one not located in New York. The Court has a - 2 -

twofold role: first, to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by
States (its judgments have binding force and are without appeal for the parties concerned); and,

second, to give advisory opinions on legal questi ons referred to it by duly authorized United
Nations organs and agencies of the system. The Court is composed of 15judges elected for a
nine-year term by the General Assembly and the Security Council of the United Nations. It is
assisted by a Registry, its international secretariat, whose activities are both judicial and diplomatic,

as well as administrative. The official languages of the Court are French and English.

The ICJ, a court open only to States for cont entious proceedings, and to certain organs and
institutions of the United Nations system for advisory proceedings, should not be confused with the

other ⎯ mostly criminal ⎯ judicial institutions based in The Hague and adjacent areas, such as the
International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY, an ad hoc court created by the
Security Council), the International Criminal Court (ICC, the first permanent international criminal

court established by treaty, which does not belong to the United Nations system), the Special
Tribunal for Lebanon (STL, an independent judicial body composed of Lebanese and international
judges, which is not a United Nations tribunal an d does not form part of the Lebanese judicial
system), or the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA, an institution founded in 1899, which is

independent of the United Nations).

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Information Department:

Mr. Andrey Poskakukhin, First Secretary of the Court, Head of Department (+31 (0)70 302 2336)
Mr. Boris Heim, Information Officer (+31 (0)70 302 2337)
Ms Joanne Moore, Associate Information Officer (+31 (0)70 302 2394)

Ms Genoveva Madurga, Administrative Assistant (+31 (0)70 302 2396)

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Note: The Court’s press releases do not constitute official documents.