India's Dalveer Bhandari elected to World Court

United Nations, April 27 (IANS) Dalveer Bhandari, a senior judge of the Supreme Court of India was today Friday to the International Court of Justice, the primary judicial organ of the United Nations, commonly referred to as the World Court.

In simultaneous elections Friday at the UN headquarters in New York, Bhandari obtained 122 votes in the General Assembly and an absolute majority in the Security Council.

The only other candidate in the fray was Florentino P. Feliciano of the Philippines who received 58 votes in the General Assembly.

Bhadari takes the place of Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh of Jordan who resigned from the Asia-Pacific region seat at the end of 2011.

Bhandari will serve the remainder of Al-Khasawneh's 2012-18 term. India was last represented at the ICJ more than two decades ago.

Established in June 1945 by the charter of the United Nations, in The Hague, The Netherlands, ICJ's role is to settle, in accordance with international law, legal disputes submitted to it by States and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred to it by authorised United Nations organs and specialised agencies.

An eminent legal luminary, Bhandari has been on India's apex court since 2005 and has served in the higher Indian judiciary for over two decades. Prior to that, he had a distinguished and successful career as an attorney at law for 23 years.

Bhandari is also a member of leading international academic and legal bodies and is closely associated with a large number of committees dealing with various aspects of international law such as: human rights, biotechnology, sustainable development, securities regulation, trade, nuclear weapons, non-proliferation and contemporary international law and space.

Acknowledging his outstanding contribution, the Northwestern University School of Law, Chicago, while celebrating its 150th anniversary, selected Bhandari as one of its 16 most illustrious and distinguished alumni.