New round of ICJ voting to be held on Monday

The UN General Assembly and the Security Council will meet on Monday for a new round of voting for the last seat at the International Court of Justice as the battle between India’s nominee Dalveer Bhandari and Britain’s Christopher Greenwood remained deadlocked.

Bhandari and Greenwood, who are seeking re-election at the Hague-based ICJ, are locked in a major battle as 11 rounds of elections held in both the UNGA and UNSC have failed to yield results.

Under the election procedures, the balloting would be held simultaneously by the Assembly and the



Council.

In the successive rounds of elections spread over two days in the last two weeks, Bhandari, 70, enjoyed nearly two-third majority in the 193-member Assembly.

Greenwood, 62, received nine votes as against five by Bhandari in the Security Council. As per ICJ rules, the candidates need to gain majority in both the General assembly and Security Council to be declared elected.

On Monday, the election would be presided over by the General Assembly President Miroslav Lajcak, his spokesperson Brendan Varma said at a news conference at the UN headquarters in New York.