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New York/New Delhi: India's nominee, Justice Dalveer Bhandari, a sitting judge of the
Supreme Court, has been elected to the International Court of
Justice (ICJ), the first time an Indian has managed to get this
key international post in over two decades.
Bhandari secured 122 votes in the United Nations General Assembly
against 58 for his Filipino rival, Syed Akbaruddin, the
spokesperson of the external affairs, said here.
In simultaneous elections Friday at the UN headquarters in New
York, Bhandari also secured an absolute majority in the Security
Council.
In the election to the ICJ, a primary judicial organ of the United
Nations, commonly referred to as the World Court, Bhandari was
locked in a fierce contest with Justice Florentino P. Feliciano of
the Philippines.
Bhadari takes the place of Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh of Jordan who
resigned from the Asia-Pacific region seat at the end of 2011.
An eminent legal luminary, Bhandari will serve the remainder of
the term 2012-18. India was last represented at the ICJ more than
two decades ago.
The 64-year-old Justice Bhandari has variegated experience in
international law and is well-versed with the working of the UN.
Bhandari has been on India's apex court since 2005 and has served
in the higher Indian judiciary for over two decades. He will
retire in September this year. He served as the chairperson of the
Delhi Centre of the International Law Association for several
years.
Bhandari is also a member of leading international academic and
legal bodies and is closely associated with a large number of
committees dealing with various aspects of international law such
as: human rights, biotechnology, sustainable development,
securities regulation, trade, nuclear weapons, non-proliferation
and contemporary international law and space.
Acknowledging his outstanding contribution, the Northwestern
University School of Law, Chicago, US while celebrating its 150
Years (1859-2009) selected Bhandari as one of its 16 most
illustrious and distinguished alumni.
In New Delhi, the Supreme Court Thursday had refused to quash
Bhandari's nomination as a judge for the ICJ.
A bench of justices Altamas Kabir, J Chelameswar and Ranjan Gogoi
initially wanted to outrightly dismiss the plea for quashing
Justice Bhandari's nomination for the ICJ, but later allowed
counsel Prashant Bhushan to withdraw it, treating it as "dismissed
as withdrawn."
Established in June 1945 by the charter of the United Nations, in
The Hague, Netherlands, ICJ's role is to settle, in accordance
with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States
and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by
authorised United Nations organs and specialised agencies.
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