Last update:
August 4, 2023
Membership
2021 Election of the International Law Commission
The term of office of the thirty-four members of the International Law Commission for the 2017-2021 (extended to 2022) quinquennium will expire at the end of 2022. The election of the members of the Commission for a five-year term beginning on 1 January 2023 (until 31 December 2027) took place, by secret ballot, at the 32nd meeting of the General Assembly at its seventy-sixth session, held on 12 November 2021.
The Statute of the International Law Commission, as adopted by the General Assembly in resolution 174 (II) of 21 November 1947 and as thereafter amended, provides in article 2 that the International Law Commission shall consist of thirty four members who shall be persons of recognized competence in international law, with no two members being nationals of the same State and that in case of dual nationality a candidate shall be deemed to be a national of the State in which he ordinarily exercises civil and political rights.
Each State Member of the United Nations could nominate not more than four candidates, of whom two could be nationals of the nominating State and two nationals of other States (articles 3, 4 and 7). Members of the Commission are elected for five years and are eligible for re-election (article 10).
The thirty-four members of the International Law Commission were elected according to the pattern set up in paragraph 3 of resolution 36/39 of 18 November 1981. Thus, the allocation of seats on the Commission for the five-year term beginning on 1 January 2023 will be as follows:
Election results arranged by regional group
African States (9 seats)
- Number of ballot papers: 193
- Number of invalid ballot papers: 1
- Number of valid ballot papers: 192
- Abstentions: 0
- Number of members present and voting: 192
- Required simple majority of members present and voting: 97
Candidates (Nationality) |
Nominated by |
No of votes |
Outcome |
Mr. |
Jalloh, Charles C. (Sierra Leone) |
Sierra Leone, Chile, New Zealand |
169 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Sall, Alioune (Senegal) |
Senegal |
165 |
Elected |
Ms. |
Okowa, Phoebe (Kenya) |
Kenya, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
162 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Cissé, Yacouba (Côte d’Ivoire) |
Côte d’Ivoire |
160 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Fathalla, Ahmed Amin (Egypt) |
Egypt |
159 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Ouazzani Chahdi, Hassan (Morocco) |
Morocco |
151 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Laraba, Ahmed (Algeria) |
Algeria |
136 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Savadogo, Louis (Burkina Faso) |
Burkina Faso |
131 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Mingashang, Ivon (Democratic Republic of the Congo) |
Democratic Republic of the Congo |
121 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Fall, Aly (Mauritania) |
Mauritania |
114 |
Not elected |
Mr. |
Mashamba, Clement Julius (United Republic of Tanzania) |
United Republic of Tanzania |
112 |
Not elected |
Mr. |
Tungo, Muaz Ahmed Mohamed (Sudan) |
Sudan |
82 |
Not elected |
Mr. |
Kalaluka, Likando (Zambia) |
Zambia |
–* |
|
Mr. |
Mohamed Lemine, Mohamed Yeslem (Mauritania) |
Mauritania |
–* |
|
Asia-Pacific States (8 seats)
- Number of ballot papers: 193
- Number of invalid ballot papers: 2
- Number of valid ballot papers: 191
- Abstentions: 0
- Number of members present and voting: 191
- Required simple majority of members present and voting: 96
Candidates (Nationality) |
Nominated by |
No of votes |
Outcome |
Mr. |
Patel, Bimal N. (India) |
India |
163 |
Elected |
Ms. |
Mangklatanakul, Vilawan (Thailand) |
Thailand |
162 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Asada, Masahiko (Japan) |
Japan, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland |
154 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Nguyen, Hong Thao (Viet Nam) |
Viet Nam |
145 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Huang, Huikang (China) |
China |
142 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Lee, Keun-Gwan (Republic of Korea) |
Republic of Korea |
140 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Mavroyiannis, Andreas D. (Cyprus) |
Cyprus |
139 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Tsend, Munkh-Orgil (Mongolia) |
Mongolia |
123 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Ziadé, Nassib G. (Lebanon) |
Lebanon, Bahrain |
119 |
Not elected |
Mr. |
Pieris, Mohan (Sri Lanka) |
Sri Lanka |
112 |
Not elected |
Mr. |
Roque, Herminio Harry L. (Philippines) |
Philippines |
87 |
Not elected |
Mr. |
Azimov, Mirvokhid (Uzbekistan) |
Uzbekistan |
–* |
|
Eastern European States (3 seats)
- Number of ballot papers: 193
- Number of invalid ballot papers: 1
- Number of valid ballot papers: 192
- Abstentions: 1
- Number of members present and voting: 191
- Required simple majority of members present and voting: 96
Latin American and Caribbean States (6 seats)
- Number of ballot papers: 193
- Number of invalid ballot papers: 0
- Number of valid ballot papers: 193
- Abstentions: 0
- Number of members present and voting: 193
- Required simple majority of members present and voting: 97
Western European and other States (8 seats)
- Number of ballot papers: 193
- Number of invalid ballot papers: 0
- Number of valid ballot papers: 193
- Abstentions: 0
- Number of members present and voting: 193
- Required simple majority of members present and voting: 97
Candidates (Nationality) |
Nominated by |
No of votes |
Outcome |
Mr. |
Fife, Rolf Einar (Norway) |
Norway, Finland, Denmark, Sweden, Iceland |
154 |
Elected |
Ms. |
Galvão Teles, Patrícia (Portugal) |
Portugal |
154 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Nesi, Giuseppe (Italy) |
Italy |
152 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Akande, Dapo (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland) |
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, Nigeria, Slovenia, Kenya, Japan |
150 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Reinisch, August (Austria) |
Austria |
149 |
Elected |
Ms. |
Ridings, Penelope (New Zealand) |
New Zealand, Australia, Canada, Sierra Leone |
131 |
Elected |
Mr. |
Forteau, Mathias (France) |
France |
130 |
Elected |
Ms. |
Oral, Nilüfer (Turkey) |
Turkey |
124 |
Elected |
Ms. |
Escobar Hernández, Concepción (Spain) |
Spain |
122 |
Not elected |
Ms. |
Aswad, Evelyn (United States of America) |
United States of America |
114 |
Not elected |
Mr. |
Becker, Tal (Israel) |
Israel |
104 |
Not elected |