Indian judge votes against Russia in ICJ
17 Mar 2022 10:56:56
Hague, Mar 17: The International Court of Justice has asked Russia to immediately halt its military operation in Ukraine, in a 13-2 decision which means 13 voters were in favour of the direction to Russia, while 2 were against. Indian judge at the UN court Justice Dalveer Bhandari voted in favour of the majority, against Russia.
"The Russian Federation, pending the final decision in the case, must immediately suspend the military operations it commenced in the territory of Ukraine on February 24, 2022," the order of the UN court said. The rulings of the International Court of Justice are binding but there have been cases where countries have ignored them, as ICJ has no direct means of enforcing its orders.
The UN court comprises 15 judges. President of the ICJ Judge Joan E Donoghue (USA), Judge Peter Tomka (Slovakia), Judge Ronny Abraham (France), Judge Mohamed Bennouna (Morocco), Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (Somalia), Judge Julia Sebutinde (Uganda), Judge Dalveer Bhandari (India), Judge Patrick Lipton Robinson (Jamaica), Judge Nawaf Salam (Lebanon), Judge Iwasawa Yuji (Japan), Judge Georg Nolte (Germany), Judge Hilary Charlesworth (Australia), Judge ad hoc Daudet voted in favour of the direction. Two judges who were against the direction were Vice-President Kirill Gevorgian (Russia) and Judge Sue Hanqin (China).
Justice Dalveer Bhandari is serving his second term at the World Court. In 2012, he was elected for the first term which continued till 2018. He was renominated by India and beat UK's nominee Justice Greenwood to win another term at the ICJ. Following the international court's order, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky asked Russia to immediately comply with the order though peace negotiations are going on. "Ukraine gained a complete victory in its case against Russia at the International Court of Justice. The ICJ ordered an immediate stop to the invasion. The order is binding under international law. Russia must comply immediately. Ignoring the order will isolate Russia even further," Zelenskyy said on Twitter. Indian judge voting against Russia comes amid India abstaining from UN resolution against Russia.