Kenya’s Phoebe Okowa elected Judge of the ICJ for nine-year term
Professor Phoebe Okowa of Kenya has been elected to a full nine-year term as a judge at the International Court of Justice. She is joined by four other legal experts from the UK, France, Jordan, and Singapore.
Why it matters
The composition of the ICJ influences international law and the resolution of global geopolitical disputes.
Judge Phoebe Okowa Kenya’s Professor Phoebe Okowa has been elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for a full nine-year term after securing the required majority votes in both the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.
Okowa was among nine candidates competing for five positions in elections held simultaneously by the two UN organs on Tuesday.
Okowa is a professor of Public International Law at Queen Mary University of London, where she also serves as Director of Graduate Studies. She was elected to the UN International Law Commission in 2021, becoming the first African woman to serve on the expert body.
She was also appointed by Kenya as a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in 2016.
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