Loss of seat at top court ends Brexiteers’ ‘Empire 2.0’
Britain lost a seat on the International Court of Justice on Monday for the first time since the tribunal started work in 1946, a setback seen by some diplomats and commentators as the result of waning international influence after its vote to leave the European Union.
In the house of commons on Tuesday, a Scottish National Party politician suggested the move signalled the end of Leave voters’ vision of a post-Brexit world in which Britain enjoys international dominance akin to its colonial days.
“It appears the sun is setting on the Brexiteers dream of Empire 2.0 before it has even risen,” Patrick Grady, MP, told foreign secretary Boris Johnson, himself a Leave voter.
But Mr Johnson dismissed the notion and instead congratulated India’s Dalveer Bhandari, who won the seat on the ICJ.
“I don’t think I can quite agree with the construction my friend places on events, but I will repeat my congratulations to the Indian judge and, as the house will know, it has been a longstanding objective of UK foreign policy to support India in the UN,” the foreign secretary said.
Based at The Hague, Netherlands, the 15-member ICJ is the UN’s top judicial court. Its job is to settle disputes between countries. Five judges are elected every three years and serve for nine years.
After four rounds of voting, Ronny Abraham of France, Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf of Somalia, Antonio Augusto Cancado Trindade of Brazil and Nawaf Salam of Lebanon were elected by required majorities in both the General Assembly and Security Council.
Britain’s Christopher Greenwood and India’s Dalveer Bhandari, both running for re-election to the court, were forced into a run-off for the fifth seat because Mr Greenwood had the required majority in the 15-member Security Council while Mr Bhandari topped the vote in the 193-member General Assembly.
But Mr Bhandari’s support was gaining while Mr Greenwood’s was diminishing, apparently leading the British judge to drop out.
Mr Bhandari was then easily elected on Monday by the assembly and the council.
Mr Rycroft said the United Kingdom would continue to support the court’s work “in line with our commitment to the importance of the rule of law”.