President of the INTERNATIONAL COURT OFJUSTICE

Presidency

The President and the Vice-President are elected by the Members of the Court every three years by secret ballot. The election is held on the date on which Members of the Court elected at a triennial election are to begin their terms of office or shortly thereafter. An absolute majority is required and there are no conditions with regard to nationality. The President and the Vice-President may be re-elected. The President presides at all meetings of the Court; he/she directs its work and supervises its administration, with the assistance of a Budgetary and Administrative Committee and of various other committees, all composed of Members of the Court. During judicial deliberations, the President has a casting vote in the event of votes being equally divided. In The Hague, where he/she is obliged to reside, the President of the Court takes precedence over the doyen of the diplomatic corps. The President receives a special supplementary allowance of 15,000 dollars per annum, in addition to his/her annual salary. The Vice-President replaces the President in his/her absence, in the event of his/her inability to exercise his/her duties, or in the event of a vacancy in the presidency. For this purpose he/she receives a daily allowance. In the absence of the Vice-President, this role devolves upon the senior judge. On 6 February 2012 the Court elected Judge Peter Tomka (Slovakia) to be President and Judge Bernardo Sepúlveda-Amor (Mexico) to be Vice-President. The following judges served as President or Vice-President before the present holders of those offices:
1946-1949 Guerrero and Basdevant
1949-1952 Basdevant and Guerrero
1952-1955 Sir Arnold McNair and Guerrero
1955-1958 Hackworth and Badawi
1958-1961 Klaestad and Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan
1961-1964 Winiarski and Alfaro
1964-1967 Sir Percy Spender and Wellington Koo
1967-1970 Bustamante y Rivero and Koretsky
1970-1973 Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan and Ammoun
1973-1976 Lachs and Ammoun
1976-1979 Jiménez de Aréchaga and Nagendra Singh
1979-1982 Sir Humphrey Waldock and Elias (Sir Humphrey Waldock died on 15 August 1981. The functions of the Presidency were thereafter exercised by Judge Elias as Acting President, by virtue of Articles 13 and 14 of the 1978 Rules of Court.)
1982-1985 Elias and Sette-Camara
1985-1988 Nagendra Singh and Ladreit de Lacharrière (Judge Ladreit de Lacharrière died on 10 March 1987. On 6 May 1987 the Court elected Judge Mbaye to be its Vice-President for the remainder of his predecessor’s term.)
1988-1991 J. M. Ruda and Mbaye
1991-1994 Sir Robert Jennings and Oda
1994-1997 Bedjaoui and Schwebel
1997-2000 Schwebel and Weeramantry
2000-2003 Guillaume and Shi
2003-2006 Shi and Ranjeva
2006-2009 Higgins and Al-Khasawneh
2009-2012 Owada and Tomka