Brazilian unseats Argentine as new judge in The Hague

The United Nations on Friday chose the Brazilian Leonardo Nemer Caldeira as the new judge of the International Court of Justice, a position that was disputed with an Argentine jurist and another Brazilian candidate.

The Court, the main judicial organ of the United Nations, based in The Hague, has 15 judges with terms of nine years. Caldeira will only be a judge until February 2027 because he replaces a magistrate, also Brazilian, who died in May.

Argentina’s Marcelo Kohen, secretary general of the Institute of International Law, lost Friday’s election despite having nominations from 17 countries, the most. Caldeira had the nomination from Brazil, Malta, Peru, Portugal, Singapore and Turkey.

The Brazilian won the majority of votes in both the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council elections on Friday.

The Court decides legal controversies between States and issues advisory opinions on issues that may be submitted to it by specialized UN bodies or institutions. Currently the judges of the Court are from the United States, Russia, Slovakia, France, Morocco, Somalia, China, Uganda, India, Jamaica, Lebanon, Japan, Germany and Australia.

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