IO files, SD/A/330
Position Paper Prepared in the Department of State for the United States Delegation to the Ninth Regular Session of the General Assembly
Elections to the International Court of Justice
the problem
The Ninth General Assembly and the Security Council must elect a judge to fill the vacancy on the International Court of Justice caused by the death of Sir Benegal Rau. They must also elect five judges to succeed Judges Sir Arnold Duncan McNair (British), Jose Gustavo Guerrero (Salvadoran), Alejandro Alvarez (Chilean), Jules Basdevant (French), and Levi Fernandes Carneiro (Brazilian), whose terms of office expire on February 5, 1955.
united states position
- 1.
- The United States should support Sir Zafrulla Khan of Pakistan for the vacancy created by the death of Sir Benegal Rau.
- 2.
- The United States should support Jules Basdevant of France, Hersch Lauterpacht of the United Kingdom, and three Latin American judges for the vacancies which will occur on February 5, 1955. Decision on the specific Latin American judges to support should be made only after the views of the Latin American group are known.
comment
The Statute of the Court provides that the “Court shall be composed of a body of independent judges, elected regardless of their [Page 587] nationality from among persons of high moral character, who possess the qualifications required in their respective countries for appointment to the highest judicial offices, or are juris-consults of recognized competence in international law”. The Statute also stipulates that the electors are to bear in mind not only the individual qualifications of candidates, but also “that in the body as a whole the representation of the main forms of civilization and of the principal legal systems of the world should be assured.” The General Assembly and the Security Council, proceeding independently of one another, elect the judges from a list of persons nominated by national groups. The term of office on the Court is nine years.
The principal candidates for the vacancy created by the death of Sir Benegal Bau are Sir Zafrulla Khan of Pakistan, Radhabinod Pal of India and Charles de Visscher of Belgium. India has claimed that an Indian national is entitled to the unexpired portion of the Rau vacancy. However, the United States does not subscribe to this view, and has decided to support Sir Zafrulla Khan, who is eminently qualified for a position on the Court. Sir Zafrulla has already been informed that we will support him for the Rau vacancy, but that we cannot support him for one of the five regular vacancies, for which he is also a candidate.
With respect to the five regular vacancies which will occur on February 5, 1955, it will be desirable to support the reelection of Jules Basdevant of France, who has been nominated by the French national group, and to support Hersch Lauterpacht, nominated by the British national group, to succeed Sir Arnold Duncan McNair, who no longer wishes to serve on the Court. There has geen a general practice of electing to the Court judges from the countries which are permanent members of the Security Council.
It will be desirable to support three Latin American judges for the remaining three seats, which are now held by Latin American judges. While equally well-qualified judges from other areas have been nominated, any effort on our part to reduce the number of Latin American judges on the Court would be strongly resented by the Latin American countries and this could seriously affect our relationships with these countries in the United Nations.
A number of Latin American countries have requested our support for their candidates as follows: Argentina, Lucio M. Moreno Quintana; El Salvador, Jose G. Guerrero; Mexico, Roberto Cordova; Panama, Ricardo J. Alfaro; and Paraguay, Raul Sapena Pastor. The following Latin Americans have also been nominated: Hildebrando Accioly (Brazilian), Ramon Carmona (Venezuelan), Eduardo Plaza (Venezuelan), Modesto Valle (Nicaraguan), and Homero Viteri La-fronte (Ecuadorean). In accordance with our usual practice regarding Latin American candidates for UN posts, we will wish to ascertain the [Page 588] preferences of the Latin American group before deciding on which three candidates to support.