ICJ Watch: New Member of the Court Named

The General Assembly and Security Council approved the selection of Ronny Abraham to become a member of the International Court of Justice today. M. Abraham replaces Justice and former President of the Court Gilbert Guillaume, who resigned last Friday, and will serve out the rest of Guilliame’s term, which expires in 2009. M. Abraham, a widely-respected French international lawyer, takes over the “French” seat on the ICJ which doesn’t reserve seats for particular countries but, due to the requirement of Security Council approval, always seems to have judge from the permanent member countries of the Security Council.