UK takes campaign for Dapo Akande to the UN General Assembly ahead of the 3 November ICJ election

The United Kingdom is campaigning openly at the United Nations for Professor Dapo Akande, its candidate for a seat on the International Court of Justice (ICJ), ahead of the court’s regular election on 3 November. Lord Chancellor and Justice Secretary Alex Norris is due to address the UN General Assembly on Thursday 29 October to make the case, according to the UK government.

Mr Norris will say that Professor Akande “brings the independence, legal rigour, judgement and breadth of perspective that the Court needs” at “a moment when international law is under pressure.” He will add that Professor Akande “would make a formidable contribution to its work.” The visit is being made together with Chris Elmore, the UK’s Minister for the UN.

Defence of the ICC in the same speech

According to the government’s announcement, the Lord Chancellor will also use the speech to set out Britain’s opposition to the sanctions imposed on the International Criminal Court (ICC). He will stress that the ICJ and the ICC have distinct jurisdictions and mandates, but that “the principle at stake is common”: judicial institutions must be able to act independently, impartially and with integrity. Attempts to impede their work, he will say, weaken not only the institutions targeted but the wider international legal order on which all states rely, and the UK “will continue to support the ICC and uphold the rules-based international system.”

Washington’s sanctions on the ICC are the background to that passage. Geopolitiki has covered the dispute in US sanctions the International Criminal Court itself; Rubio: “Either the ICC will end its threats, or we will end the ICC” and in France condemns US sanctions on the International Criminal Court and asks Washington to withdraw them. The European Parliament also honoured the court with its 2026 Sakharov Prize, reported in European Parliament awards 2026 Sakharov Prize to the International Criminal Court and its officials.

Why the ICJ election matters

The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and helps states settle disputes between them by law. The UK government says this year marks the 80th anniversary of the court’s inaugural sitting, in the aftermath of the Second World War, and that its support for the ICJ is part of a wider commitment to justice, human rights and the rule of law.

For Greece and Cyprus the court has a particular relevance. Athens has long held that the only open question with Turkey in the Aegean is the delimitation of the continental shelf and exclusive economic zone, which it says can be referred to the ICJ if the two sides cannot agree; Turkey has not accepted the court’s jurisdiction. The legal basis of the Greek position is set out in UNCLOS explained: sea zones, islands and the Aegean dispute.

The election to the court is due on 3 November. The UK announcement does not name the other candidates.