International Court of Justice appoints Japanese judge as its president

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) announced on Monday that a Japanese judge has been elected as its new president following the resignation of his predecessor, Nawaf Salam, in January, Anadolu Agency reported. Yuji Iwasawa will serve until February 5, 2027, completing Salam’s term. Salam stepped down after being appointed as Lebanon’s prime minister by President Joseph Aoun.

Prior to his role at the Court, Iwasawa was a professor of international law at the University of Tokyo and chaired the United Nations Human Rights Committee. He has been a judge on the ICJ since June 2018 and is the second Japanese judge to hold the presidency, according to local reports.

The ICJ, established in 1945 and located in The Hague, Netherlands, is the UN’s principal judicial body. It consists of 15 judges elected for nine-year terms, resolving legal disputes between states and offering advisory opinions on legal questions referred by UN entities.