Kenya submits law scholar's candidacy for ICJ judge elections

Kenya has formally submitted the candidacy of Professor Phoebe Okowa for election as judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Foreign Affairs Secretary Musalia Mudavadi announced.

Mudavadi told diplomats in Nairobi that Kenya was seeking Okowa’s election in both the casual vacancy for 2025–2027 and the regular nine-year term running from 2027–2036.

The elections will take place in New York in November 2026, with candidates required to secure an absolute majority in both the UN General Assembly and the Security Council.

If elected, Prof Okowa would join Ugandan jurist Julia Sebutinde, currently the ICJ’s Vice-President, as one of the few African women to serve on the Court.

Her candidacy comes shortly after Somalia’s Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf announced his resignation from the ICJ, effective 30 September 2025.

Okowa, a professor of public international law at Queen Mary University of London, is widely recognized for her scholarship on state responsibility, international crimes and environmental justice.

First African woman

Since 2021, she has been a member of the UN International Law Commission (ILC), where she served as chair of its drafting committee.

Professor Okowa’s election to the International Law Commission (ILC) in 2021 was itself a groundbreaking achievement. She became the first African woman and the first Black woman ever elected to the body, which has counted only seven women among its 229 members since its founding in 1947.

Her candidacy, jointly nominated by Kenya and the United Kingdom, received overwhelming support in the UN General Assembly with 162 votes, underscoring her global recognition as a leading authority in international law. Her current term runs from 2023 to 2027.

In addition to her role at the ILC, Okowa was also elected an Associate Member of the Institut de Droit International during its session in Rabat in 2021.