PRESS
RELEASE
For immediate release
14 September 2002
WOMEN'S GROUPS ALARMED AT
ABSENCE OF FEMALE CANDIDATES ON ROSTER OF NOMINATIONS FOR
INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE
United Nations, NY - On Friday, 13 September, UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan transmitted a list of 10 male candidates
for the International Court of Justice (ICJ) to members of the Security
Council and General Assembly in advance of elections for the Court which
will be held in the coming months. The fact that there are no female
candidates on the list means that the current gender composition of the
Court - 1 woman and 14 men - will remain the same.
"It is appalling that in the 80-year history
of the ICJ, only one woman has ever been able to serve on this 15-member
Court," said Pam Spees, Program Director of the Women's Caucus for
Gender Justice, a network of groups and individuals that formed in 1997
to promote gender-sensitive laws and procedures in the establishment of
the International Criminal Court (ICC), which will soon begin
functioning in the Hague.
The sole woman currently serving on the ICJ is Ms.
Rosalyn Higgins of the United Kingdom, who was only elected to the Court
in 1995.
"The ICJ, as the principle judicial organ of
the United Nations is one of the most critical components in the UN
structure intended to help ensure the pacific settlement of
disputes," Spees said. "For most of its history, it has
undertaken its task from an exclusively male perspective on the problems
of the world. This is an intolerable situation and must not be condoned
anymore by the international community."
Women's groups and other nongovernmental
organizations monitoring the establishment of the ICC have pointed to
the minimal presence of women as judges in the ICJ and other
international tribunals such as the ad hoc criminal tribunals for the
Former Yugoslavia and Rwanda as evidence of the need for concrete
mechanisms in the election process that will ensure a 'fair
representation' of women and men.
"The continued exclusion of women from these
international posts illustrates the degree to which the basic democratic
principle of equality as well as UN mandates of ensuring women in
high-level posts and positions of decision-making are not taken
seriously by governments and UN officials," she said. "While
the UN routinely achieves diverse regional representation in these
institutions, there continues to be a glaring gender segregation in our
international fora."
On 9 September 2002, the ICC Assembly of States Parties (ASP) officially
opened the nomination period for judges of the ICC. The nomination
period will close on 30 November with elections to be held in February
2003.
Article 36(8) of the ICC statute mandates that
countries take into account the need to ensure 'fair representation of
male and female judges" in the composition of the Court in addition
to the traditional requirements of equitable geographical distribution
and representation of the principle legal systems of the world. During
the first session of the ASP, delegates adopted a resolution that will
govern the Assembly's election of judges which provides for minimum
voting requirements for women and men as well as regional
representation.
"In the absence of specific directives about
women on the Court, we know it won't happen on its own," Spees
said. "Even with the rules the ICC delegates adopted, women all
over the world will have to apply enormous pressure on their governments
to take the resolution seriously and seek out and nominated the
qualified women we know are out there."
Of the countries which have so far officially
announced their candidates for the ICC, only Switzerland has nominated a
woman.
"These international courts and tribunals
issue decisions, formulate standards and make law that can have a
significant bearing on women's lives," said Spees. "It's vital
that women's perspectives be seen and heard in these arenas."
In other international tribunals, the
number of women is minimal. Currently, there is only one woman serving
at the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia and
three women at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda out of 14
judges at each Court. There are no women serving at International
Tribunal for the Law of the Sea which is composed of 21 judges. Last
year, in a historic development two women were elected to the 35-member
International Law Commission for the first time in its 55-year history.
- End -
Contact: Reena Geevarghese, Tel.
718-626-2681
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