The government is planning to nominate a candidate for the election at the International Criminal Court [ICC] to fill a judicial vacancy.
“We are planning to contest the election and our candidate will be former chief justice ABM Khairul Haque,” Law Minister Anisul Haq told the Dhaka Tribune.
He met all the criteria to become a judge of the prestigious ICC, Anisul said.
This is the first time a Bangladeshi is attempting to become a judge of the court, he added.
The election will be held at the special Assembly of Parties meeting in Hague on June 24 and 25, the minister said.
Bangladesh has had a very good track record of winning international elections.
The ICC in its website posted a note verbale on nomination and election of a judge and the last date of filing the nomination is March 31.
A senior government official who did not wish to be named said the ICC judge election needs hectic campaign.
There are 123 voters [countries] and a judge must have two-third majority to become elected, he said.
Six judges were elected in New York last December and it went 22 rounds of voting in the election, he added.
The judicial post fell vacant last year when Filipino judge Miriam Defensor Santiago submitted his resignation.
The new judge will be elected for six years as Santiago was elected by the Assembly of States Parties in December 2011 for a nine year term and he served three years in the office.
There are 18 judges in the court.
Khairul Haque is currently working as the Chairman of the Law Commission.
He did LLB from Dhaka University in 1969 and Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln’s Inn, London in 1975. He was appointed as the Chief Justice in September 2010 and retired in May 2011.
Some of the notable judgments are state vs lieutenant colonel Syed Farook Rahman and 14 others, Fifth Amendment case, Seventh Amendment case and Thirteenth Amendment case.
Source:
http://www.dhakatribune.com/bangladesh/2015/mar/06/govt-plans-contest-icc-judge-election#sthash.YFeIpHKB.dpuf
