On 2 June 2023, Dr. YUAN Gujie, President of the Guangdong Province Law Society led a delegation in visiting the International Court of Justice.
Judge XUE Hanqin of the International Court of Justice (Vice President of the International Court of Justice from February 2018 to February 2021) met the Guangdong Province delegation led by Dr. YUAN Gujie at the Peace Palace, where the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) are located. During the meeting, Judge XUE Hanqin introduced and discussed the establishment background, main functions, operating mechanism and the development of the International Court of Justice with Dr. YUAN Gujie and her delegation.
Mr. ZHANG Qinghong, Vice President of Guangdong Province Law Society; Mr. SUN Taiping, President of Guangzhou Law Society; Dr. LIU Xiaochun, Executive Chairman of South China International Arbitration Center (Hong Kong) and President of Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, etc., attended the event.
The International Court of Justice is one of the main organs in the United Nations and the only universal international court with general jurisdiction. The International Court of Justice is responsible for resolving legal disputes between states in accordance with international law. Also, the International Court of Justice is the heir of the Permanent Court of International Justice (PCIJ) which was established by the League of Nations in 1922. Within 1922 and 1940, the PCIJ heard around 60 cases before being disbanded after World War II. In 1946, the International Court of Justice was established in accordance with the Statute of the International Court of Justice in the Charter of the United Nations, inheriting the statute, jurisprudence, and tradition of the PCIJ. The International Court of Justice is composed of 15 judges of different nationalities, all of whom are “persons of high moral character, qualified to hold the highest judicial office in their respective countries, or jurists of recognized authority in international law,” these judges are all elected by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council, with a term of 9 years, one-third re-elected every three years and can be re-elected.
Judge XUE Hanqin was first elected as a judge of the International Court of Justice in June 2010, and was re-elected in February 2012 and February 2021. Judge XUE Hanqin is also the first Chinese female judge of the International Court of Justice and first female vice president of the International Court of Justice (from February 2018 to February 2021). Before working at the International Court of Justice, Judge XUE Hanqin had served as a member and chairman of the United Nations International Law Commission.
Posted on 24 July 2023
