Somalia: Judge Abdulqawi elected as new ICJ President

HAGUE - The International Court of Justice has elected Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf as its new President on Tuesday, February 6 by his peer at the ICJ headquarters in Hague on the western coast of the Netherlands, Garowe Online reports.

The Somali-born judge was picked as new President while Xue Hanqin, a Chinese judge has been elected as Vice-President following a secret ballot. Both new leaders will each serve a term of 3 years, according to ICJ statement, seen by GO.

Prior to this post, Yusuf has previously served as the Vice President of the International Court of Justice [ICJ] which is the primary judicial organ of the United Nations established 1945 to settle legal disputes between the States.

He has been a member of the ICJ since February 2009.

The new President of ICJ was born in Eyl, an ancient port town in the northeastern Nugal province of Somalia's northeastern semi-autonomous region of Puntland on 12 September 1948.

Yusuf is succeeding a French judge Ronny Abraham who has been in office since 6 February 2015 and becomes the 25th President of ICJ, as the well as the 3rd from Africa.

He has received Ph.D. in International Law from a University from the Graduate Institute of International Studies of Geneva, Switzerland. He is a multilingual person fluent in Somali, Arabic, English, French, and Italian.

After finishing his studies, he worked as Legal Adviser for International organizations, including UNESCO 2001-2009, and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) based in Vienna between 1998–2001.

In a Twitter post, Somali President Mohamed Abdullahi Farmajo has congratulated Yusuf on his election as the new President of the International Court of Justice under the UN.

Also, former Puntland President, and current Somali Senator Abdirahman Farole, together with fellow Senator Abdirisak Osman Jurile have extended huge congratulations to Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed and wished him success.

GAROWE ONLINE