UN General Assembly President Annalena Baerbock (L) presides over a General Assembly meeting to elect a judge for the International Court of Justice at the UN headquarters in New York, Nov. 12, 2025. [Photo/Xinhua]

Kenyan jurist Phoebe Okowa was elected a judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) on Wednesday to fill the seat vacated by Somalia's Abdulqawi Yusuf, who resigned effective Sept. 30.

Okowa will serve the remainder of Yusuf's term, which runs until Feb. 5, 2027.

She is a Kenyan lawyer and professor of public international law at Queen Mary University of London and has served as a member of the UN International Law Commission since 2023.

Under the ICJ's Statute, judges are elected by secret ballot in both the Security Council and the General Assembly.

To be elected, a candidate must obtain an absolute majority in both chambers, which vote concurrently but separately.

There were four candidates for the post. Okowa won after three rounds of voting in the Security Council and four rounds of voting in the General Assembly.

The Hague-based ICJ has 15 judges elected to nine-year terms of office. Judges are eligible for re-election. Should a judge die or resign during his or her term of office, a special election will be held to choose a judge to fill the unexpired part of the term.

The 15 judges must come from 15 different countries. The court as a whole must represent the main forms of civilization and the principal legal systems of the world.