The United Nations has elected five judges to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for nine-year terms amid surging cases. 

The vote, held on Tuesday at UN headquarters, required candidates to get an absolute majority in both the General Assembly and the Security Council to win.

The newly elected judges include Nigerian-trained lawyer Dapo Akande, Francois Alabrune of France, Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan, Rena Lee of Singapore and Phoebe Okowa of Kenya.

Ten other continuing judges include Iwasawa Yuji of Japan (President), Julia Sebutinde of Uganda (Vice President), Peter Tomka of Slovakia, Xue Hanquin of China, Georg Nolte of Germany, Hilary Charlesworth of Australia, Juan Manuel of Mexico, Sarah Cleveland of the United States, Bogdan-Lucian Aurescu of Romania and Dire Taldi of South Africa.

The votes were held by secret ballot concurrently, though separately.

The ICJ, which is based in The Hague, has 15 judges, each from a different country. The judges serve nine-year terms and may be re-elected. A third of the bench is elected every three years to ensure a degree of continuity.

The election came amid surging international cases, including disputes over territory, human rights and others.

Last month, Mr Yuji told the UN General Assembly that there were 25 cases on the Court’s docket as of August 2025, noting that the caseload had remained at a record high, with 24 contentious cases currently under consideration.

The ICJ president noted that since August 1, 2025, “the Court has held hearings in five cases, delivered one judgment on intervention, and issued two advisory opinions,” in addition to an order regarding a request for provisional measures and another concerning the admissibility of counter-claims.