UN: Ireland scored a notable victory at the United Nations yesterday when its nominee topped a poll among member-states in an election for 18 judges to sit on the new International Criminal Court.
Judge Maureen Harding Clark, currently a panel judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague, received 65 votes in the first round of balloting from the 85 nations qualified to vote.
Only seven countries met the quota of 56 in yesterday's ballot: Ireland (65), Mali (65), Republic of Korea (63), Brazil (61), Ghana (60), Costa Rica (60) and South Africa (56). Further polling will take place during the week to fill the remaining 11 places.
The high vote for Ireland is considered to be a testimony to the calibre of the candidate, to Ireland's high standing in the world body and to effective lobbying by the Irish mission in a fierce contest for support.
Judge Harding Clark has experience in criminal and international humanitarian law and particular expertise in the area of sexual and other violent offences against women and children. She had the backing of Amnesty International and the non-governmental organisations.
The election is a major step in the creation of the International Criminal Court, which will sit in The Hague and will try special cases of crimes against humanity, war crimes and genocide.
The court is expected to be operational by the end of 2003. It has a mandate to try individuals rather than states, and to hold them accountable for the most serious crimes of concern to the international community: genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity, and, eventually, the crime of aggression, according to the UN.
The international body was approved by the Security Council last year despite the opposition of the US which insisted that its service personnel should only be subject to US jusridiction while serving abroad.
Forty-two countries nominated candidates for the 18 places on the court.
Canada with 56 votes just failed to make the quota yesterday, but France (43), Germany (43) and the United Kingdom (42) fell far short.
It could be the end of the week before the remaining places are filled in the complex balloting proceedure designed to ensure that the court has a good geographical and gender mix of judges, diplomats said.
The US was one of the 138 countries that signed the Rome treaty last May, but it later withdrew its signature and launched an international diplomatic campaign for exemption of its citizens from the court's jurisdiction.
A total of 85 states have signed and ratified the 1998 Rome statute establishing the court and entitling them to vote in this week's ballot.
While over 40 countries nominated candidates to the bench of the court, there has to date been no nominee from any country for the vitally important post of prosecutor, a position which carries the status of UN Undersecretary-General.
The deadline for nominations has been extended from the closing date of November 30th.