SA’s nominee to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Prof Dire Tladi, was announced as one of five new judges on Thursday by UN General Assembly and the Security Council.
This makes him the first judge from SA to be elected to the ICJ, which is the primary judicial organ of the UN for settling disputes among nations
“I have engaged with international law from almost every conceivable angle,” Tladi told Business Day in July. “The ICJ is just the obvious next step from which I can make a contribution.”
The ICJ is seen as the most important court for international law, he said.
Tladi, a professor from the University of Pretoria (UP), was nominated as SA’s ICJ candidate in May, after the cabinet endorsed him. Tladi was not the first to be nominated — fellow UP professor John Dugard got the nomination in the early 2000s. However, Tladi is the first to be elected.
He is already familiar with the UN, having served on the UN’s International Law Commission from 2012 until 2022. The commission is responsible for developing and codifying international law. “I served in every position [on the Commission],” he said, including chair and vice-chair.
In 2007, Tladi obtained his PhD in international law from Erasmus University in the Netherlands and has since worked in various roles in international law.
He was SA’s principal state law adviser for international law from 2006 to 2014, in the department of international relations and co-operation. Simultaneously, from 2009 to 2013, he was the legal adviser to SA’s permanent mission to the UN in New York. In 2014, he was asked to be a special adviser to the foreign minister from 2014 to 2018. He has appeared as counsel in the International Criminal Court.
On Thursday, UN general assembly vice-president Peter Mohan Maithri Pieris from Sri Lanka explained how the results for the new judges were obtained. All five nominees were elected from a pool of nominees by secret ballot after receiving a majority of votes in the 193-member Assembly.
Tladi received 113 votes. Academics and judges from other countries, including from Romania, Australia, the US and Mexico, were also elected.
“The International Court of Justice is composed of 15 judges. To ensure a degree of continuity, one-third of the court is elected every three years and judges are eligible for re-election,” the UN said in a media statement on Thursday. They will replace one-third of current ICJ judges whose terms end in February.
On Friday, President Cyril Ramaphosa congratulated Tladi. “Prof Tladi’s election as a judge of the International Court of Justice is an outstanding personal achievement in which the nation shares with great pride,” the president said.
“We appreciate the confidence expressed by the UN in Prof Tladi’s capabilities. He becomes the newest member of a fraternity of South Africans globally who are in positions of service to the international community and making important contributions to the better world we seek to build.”
Tladi’s interests in international law have ranged from climate change issues, war and conflict, to concerns regarding the International Criminal Court. He obtained his PhD in 2007.
The ICJ began its work in 1946 in terms of the 1945 UN charter. To 2023, it has dealt with 190 cases. Currently, it has 16 pending cases which Tladi will be sitting on, at the Peace Palace, in The Hague.
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