Joan Donoghue Elected to ICJ

Joan Donoghue Elected to ICJ

The United Nations General Assembly and Security Council has elected Joan Donoghue, from the United States, to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) (see here). Joan Donoghue will replace Thomas Buergenthal who resigned from the Court with effect from last week. Ms Donoghue is currently Principal Deputy Legal Adviser at the United States’ State Department and has spent most of her career working for the US government. As previously discussed on the blog, Ms Donoghue’s election to the ICJ means that there are now (for the first time) two women judges on the Court with Xue Hanqin of China elected to the Court in June. Both women will take the oath of office next Monday prior to the commencement of oral hearings in the preliminary objections phase of the Georgia v. Russia (Application of the Int. Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination Case).