ADC-ICT Issues Press Release on Lack of Gender Representation on List of Nominations for Judges at t

On 26 November 2018, the ADC-ICT issued a Press Release expressing its deep regret at the lack of gender representation on the list of nominations for the judges at the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT).

The United Nations General Assembly has issued a list of solely male candidates for the election of judges to the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals (IRMCT).

The current composition of the roster of judges at the IRMCT already lacks an appropriate gender representation, having predominately male judges with only five women out of 22 judges on the Bench. The list of nominations includes 11 candidates, none of whom are women. The ADC-ICT expresses its deep regret at this practice and calls upon the General Assembly to start the nomination process anew.

Although the nominations are presented by individual States, the UN General Assembly should ensure that the list of candidates is gender representative. The General Assembly has previously issued resolutions calling for gender equality including “expressing serious concern that the urgent goal of 50/50 gender balance in the United Nations system, especially at the senior levels… remains unmet”, yet it continues to condone such practices, even at the highest level within the General Assembly.

The current President of the UN General Assembly, María Fernanda Espinosa Garcés, stated that one of her priorities was gender equality and acknowledged the “transformative value that women bring from the boardrooms to peace processes”. It is clear that although the General Assembly may share the President’s vision for gender equality, it fails to demonstrate this in the current election of the IRMCT judges.

The ADC-ICT calls upon the UN General Assembly to recommence the nomination process and encourage States to nominate women to the list of candidates for election as judges to the IRMCT.

The full Press Release is available here.