DEADLOCK OVER ICJ APPOINTMENT

Washington, Nov. 14: The battle for a seat in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) between India and Britain has run into stalemate, even as Congress leader Shashi Tharoor accused the “UK of trying to stall the will of the majority of the UN General Assembly”.

Washington, Nov. 14: The battle between India’s nominee Dalveer Bhandari and Britain’s Christopher Greenwood for a seat in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) has remained deadlocked as neither candidate managed to get the requisite numbers of votes in the latest face-off.

Bhandari, 70, and Greenwood are seeking re-election at the Hague-based International Court of Justice. One-third of the court’s 15-member bench are elected every three years for a nine-year term, elections for which are held separately, but simultaneously in the UN General Assembly and Security Council in New York.

Last Thursday, four of the six candidates in the fray were elected as per the UN laws, got absolute majority in both the General Assembly and the Security Council. Ronny Abraham of France, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf of Somalia, Antonio Augusto Cancado Trindade of Brazil and Nawaf Salam of Lebanon were elected after four rounds of elections on Thursday.

On Monday, the UN General Assembly and the Security Council met separately to elect the remaining one candidate for the ICJ. In each of the five rounds of elections, Greenwood of Britain received nine votes and Bhandari got five in the UN Security Council.