Uganda’s Justice Julia Sebutinde has been elected the Vice President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Sebutinde, 69, was elected by her peers to serve for three years having been a member of the Court since February 6, 2012, according to the Tuesday statement from the court’s registry.
She will deputise Judge Nawaf Salam (Lebanon) who was elected President to also serve for three years. Sebutinde’s election comes days after her ruling on Gaza crisis that left many stunned.
She’s one of the two judges who voted mostly against the six emergency measures in response to South Africa’s genocide case against Israel, leaving many observers around the world dazed and confused.
Sebutinde cast the only dissenting vote against all measures by the 17-judge panel. Israel’s appointed ad-hoc judge, Aharon Barak, voted in favour of two and ruled against four measures, in the case closely watched around the world. As the world’s highest court, the ICJ, provides advisory opinions on legal conundrums submitted by other UN organs or agencies, and also adjudicates legal disputes between states.
Before joining the ICJ, Sebutinde was a judge at the Special Court for Sierra Leone from 2005 to 2011. Born on February 28, 1954, Sebutinde has a Doctorate of Laws, honoris causa, University of Edinburgh, U.K., for distinguished service in the field of international justice and human rights (2009); Master of Laws Degree with Distinction (LL.M.), University of Edinburgh, U.K which she got in 1990.
She graduated with Bachelor of Laws Degree (LL.B.) from Makerere University in 1977, a Post-Graduate Diploma in Legal Practice, Law Development Centre in 1978; Certificate in Legislative Drafting, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka in conjunction with the Commonwealth Fund for Technical Co-operation (CFTC) (1983); Certificate in Advanced Leadership Studies, Haggai Leadership Institute, Singapore (1998); Certificate in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Skills, National Judicial College, University of Nevada, Reno, USA (1997). Previous Judicial and Legal Positions Judge of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) (2005-2011).