Court's Judges and States' Legal Teams

International Court of Justice hears South Africa's presentation, January 11, 2024.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) is normally comprised of 15 judges. Based on an informal understanding all regions of the world are usually represented. Judges serve staggered nine-year terms and are elected by simultaneous and separate votes in the UN's General Assembly and Security Council, where they must receive a majority in both bodies. Typically, each permanent member of the UN Security Council has a judge on the ICJ. There cannot be more than one judge from any country.

Under ICJ rules, a state coming before the ICJ that does not have a judge of its citizenship already on the bench can choose an ad hoc judge to join the court for the proceedings. For this reason in the case brought by South Africa against Israel, the bench is being expanded by two more judges to 17.

The ICJ's decisions are made based on simple majority.

South Africa has appointed Dikgang Moseneke as its ad hoc judge. He is a South African judge and former Deputy Chief Justice of South Africa. When he was a youth, he was arrested and imprisoned for participating in anti-apartheid activity. He was imprisoned for 10 years on Robben Island, where he came to know Nelson Mandela and other leaders in the anti-apartheid movement.

Israel has appointed Aharon Barak, a retired Israeli Supreme Court president, who fled the Nazi-occupation of Lithuania while a child. The New Arab reports, "Throughout his 11-year tenure as president, Barak upheld the 'otherness' of Palestinians and had been regarded as 'Israel's public defender abroad,' [including] defending the Israeli Supreme Court's decision on the illegal wall of segregation in 2004.

"Barak additionally showed support for Israel's war on Gaza and claimed the military offensive was not in violation of humanitarian law.

"He argued that the rules of collateral damage permit the killing of Palestinian fighters even if led to the deaths of children. This was approved by Barak himself in a 2006 Supreme Court ruling, as cited in a report by Canadian news outlet The Globe and Mail.

"'It may be proportional to kill five innocent kids in order to target their leader,' Barak was quoted in an interview by the publication."

As concerns each country's legal team, there is no bar association related to the ICJ. Counsel representing states at the ICJ do not have to be lawyers or citizens of the countries they are representing. They only have to be competent at presenting the case of the state that has selected them.

South Africa's Legal Team

The New Arab informs that South Africa's main legal team is comprised of:

"John Dugard is one of South Africa's foremost international law experts, and a former UN Special Rapporteur on Human Rights in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

"Dugard is no stranger to the ICJ, having served as an ad hoc judge for the court in the 2000s.

"He has previously said that apartheid carried out by Israel on Palestinians is in some respects worse than that committed on Black people in South Africa in the 20th century. [...]

"Adila Hassim ... Hassim has been practising law for two decades, and has also served as an acting judge.

"She is the co-founder and director of litigation at Section27, 'a public interest law Centre that advocates for access to health care services and basic education.'

"She also co-founded the anti-corruption organization Corruption Watch [...].

"Tembeka Ngcukaitobi [...] is a South African lawyer and legal scholar who rose to prominence in cases that helped bring down then South African President Jacob Zuma, who had been accused of wide-scale corruption.

"The 47-year-old has written books on land law and land reform in South Africa.

"Max du Plessis [...] is a barrister and associate professor of law at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa.

"He has appeared in leading cases on international law and human rights in South Africa's highest courts.

"He has spoken at tribunals about the prohibition of apartheid by international law in the context of both South Africa and Palestine."

Israel's Legal Team

Israel is also represented by four lawyers led by British lawyer Malcolm Shaw who The Times of Israel described as "a leading expert on territorial disputes and a published author on the law of genocide [...] who has represented countries including United Arab Emirates, Serbia and Cameroon at the International Court. He is assisted by the legal adviser to the Israel Foreign Ministry Tal Becker.