Indian judge voted to UN’s highest court

UNITED NATIONS–United Nations members on Friday voted Indian supreme court judge Dalveer Bhandari to sit on the International Court of Justice, the UN’s highest court.

Bhandari overwhelmingly won simultaneous votes held in the UN General Assembly and UN Security Council when he was up against Florentino Feliciano of the Philippines for the vacant ICJ seat.

The ICJ, based in The Hague, was set up by the United Nations in 1945 to settle legal disputes submitted by states and to give advisory opinions on legal questions referred by UN bodies and agencies.

Bhandari secured 122 votes in the 193 member UN General Assembly against 58 for Feliciano. He secured an absolute majority in the 15 member Security Council.