Press Releases
The Selection of Dr. Yuji Iwasawa as a Candidate for the Election of Judges of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 2020
1. The Government of Japan has decided to support the candidacy of Dr. Yuji Iwasawa, incumbent Judge of the ICJ, for the judge of the ICJ at the election to be held at the United Nations in autumn 2020.
2. Dr. Iwasawa is an internationally recognized authority on international law with considerable work experience in this field, including as the Chairperson of the Human Rights Committee, as a Judge of the Asian Development Bank Administrative Tribunal, and currently as a Judge of the ICJ since June 2018.
3. In light of the importance of the ICJ, the Government of Japan will actively seek support of other UN Member States to Dr. Iwasawa’s re-election.
The candidates for the election of Judges of the ICJ are nominated by the national groups of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), which is established under the 1907 Hague Convention for the Pacific Settlement of International Disputes (Article 4 of the Statute of the ICJ). The Japanese national group of the PCA consists of the following four members: Judge Hisashi Owada, Former Judge of the ICJ; Judge Shunji Yanai, Judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; Professor Shinya Murase, Emeritus Professor of the Sophia University (Tokyo); and Professor Kimio Yakushiji, Professor of Ritsumeikan University. The above-mentioned support for Dr. Iwasawa’s candidacy is based on the decision made by the Japanese national group of the PCA.
