Presidency

The President and 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 begin their terms of office or shortly thereafter. An absolute majority is required and there are no conditions of nationality. The President and 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 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 tied.

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 US$25,000 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 perform his/her duties, or in the event of a vacancy in the presidency. He/she receives a daily allowance for doing so. In the absence of the Vice-President, this role falls to the senior judge.

On 6 February 2024, the Court elected Judge Nawaf Salam (Lebanon) as President and Judge Julia Sebutinde (Uganda) as Vice-President.

The following judges have previously served as President or Vice-President:

Guerrero and Basdevant
1946-1949
Basdevant and Guerrero
1949-1952
Sir Arnold McNair and Guerrero
1952-1955
Hackworth and Badawi
1955-1958
Klaestad and Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan
1958-1961
Winiarski and Alfaro
1961-1964
Sir Percy Spender and Wellington Koo
1964-1967
Bustamante y Rivero and Koretsky
1967-1970
Sir Muhammad Zafrulla Khan and Ammoun
1970-1973
Lachs and Ammoun
1973-1976
Jiménez de Aréchaga and Nagendra Singh
1976-1979
Sir Humphrey Waldock and Elias
1979-1982 (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.)
Elias and Sette-Camara
1982-1985
Nagendra Singh and Ladreit de Lacharrière
1985-1988 (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.)
J. M. Ruda and Mbaye
1988-1991
Sir Robert Jennings and Oda
1991-1994
Bedjaoui and Schwebel
1994-1997
Schwebel and Weeramantry
1997-2000
Guillaume and Shi
2000-2003
Shi and Ranjeva
2003-2006
Higgins and Al-Khasawneh
2006-2009
Owada and Tomka
2009-2012
Tomka and Sepúlveda-Amor
2012-2015
Abraham and Yusuf
2015-2018
Yusuf and Xue
2018-2021
Donoghue and Gevorgian
2021-2024
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