International Court of Justice elects Japanese judge as its chief

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced Monday that a Japanese judge has been elected as its president following the resignation of his predecessor Nawaf Salam in January.

Yuji Iwasawa will serve until Feb. 5, 2027, completing Salam's term, said the ICJ.

Salam resigned after being appointed as Lebanon's prime minister by President Joseph Aoun.

Before joining the Court, Iwasawa was a professor of international law at the University of Tokyo and chaired the United Nations Human Rights Committee. He has served as a judge on the ICJ since June 2018.

He is the second Japanese judge to hold the position of ICJ president, according to local media.

The International Court of Justice, the UN's principal judicial organ, was established in 1945 and is based in the Hague, the Netherlands.

Comprising 15 judges elected for nine-year terms, it settles legal disputes between states and provides advisory opinions on legal questions referred by UN entities.