Gov't backs judge for ICC post

By Jun Ji-hye

Chung Chang-ho

The government is making an all-out effort to get South Korean Chung Chang-ho elected as a judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC) in New York next month.

The ICC, which sits in The Hague in the Netherlands, has 18 judges who serve nine-year terms. The intergovernmental organization conducts elections every three years to elect six judges.

The court plans to hold sessions of Assembly of States Parties in New York from Dec. 8 to 17, and the election of judges, whose term in office will be until 2024, are expected to take place on the first day.

Seventeen countries have fielded candidates, with Seoul nominating Chung.

The government is using all its diplomatic resources to get Chung elected because ICC President Song Sang-hyun, a South Korean, will end his term in March.

According to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the government has contacted 122 state parties to the ICC, emphasizing that Chung has vast experience in criminal law-related matters.

The ICC has also assessed Chung.

“Judge Chung has established competence in criminal law and procedure, as well as in areas of international law, which are of relevance to the ICC,” a report said. “He is a person of high moral character, impartiality and integrity.

“The Government of the Republic of Korea fully supports the nomination of Judge Chung.”

An ICC rule stipulates that at least one judge will be elected from the Asia-Pacific group. Timor Leste, formerly East Timor, has nominated Maria Natercia Gusmao Pereira.

“The ICC elects judges by secret ballot, and nobody can predict the result,” a Korean official said. “The government will do its utmost until the last minute.”

Chung has been a United Nations international judge of the Extraordinary Chambers of the Courts of Cambodia (Khmer Rouge Tribunal) since 2011. Before that, he was a judge in South Korea.

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