US congratulates Bhandari on ICJ re-election

The US has congratulated India's Justice Dalveer Bhandari for his re-election to the International Court of Justice, a day after he was overwhelmingly backed by the UN members.
Bhandari received 183 of the 193 votes in the General Assembly and secured all 15 votes in the Security Council yesterday to fill the final vacancy on the Hague-based International Court of Justice (ICJ).
70-year-old Bhandari's two-thirds backing of the UN members forced Britain to withdraw its candidate Christopher Greenwood in the hard-fought race to the world court.
For the last remaining seat, the General Assembly and the UNSC had to carry 11 rounds of voting before Greenwood withdrew from the race, leaving India's nominee Bhandari to be re-elected for a nine-year term.

"We congratulate Judge Dalveer Bhandari of India for his re-election to the International Court of Justice, as well as the other candidates who were elected or re-elected...," a State Department spokesperson told PTI.
The spokesperson also congratulated the UK's nominee for his service to the ICJ.

The official, however, refused to comment on the 11 rounds of voting.
"We're not going to comment on the prior rounds of voting.In the end, Judge Bhandari received the unanimous support of the UNSC and an absolute majority in the UN General Assembly for his re-election to the ICJ," the spokesperson said yesterday.
The ICJ has a bench of 15 judges, five of whom are elected every three years for a nine-year term. To be elected, the candidate needed majority in both the chambers.

Established in 1945, the role of the ICJ is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by states and to give advisory opinions on legal questions.