NEWS- Ugandan-born International Court of Justice Judge Julia Sebutinde who has been a member of the court since 2012 and was re-elected in February 2021, has been appointed Vice-President of the court by her peers, for the next three years.
Justice Julia Sebutinde, was recently in the International News for voting against all emergency measures ordered by the World Court for Israel to undertake in the Gaza war, including one which compels the Jewish state to ensure provision of aid, has been elected as the court’s Vice-President.
Sebutinde was in the spotlight last month after rejecting the six orders the court made against Israel in South Africa’s application in which it accused the Jewish state of violating the Genocide Convention, saying thousands of civilians had died because of military operations in Gaza since Hamas attacks on Israel on October 7th 2023.
The International Court of Justice ordered that Israel ensure immediate provision of basic services and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and ensure its military does not commit any acts of genocide.
The same Court has since announced that Justice Sebutinde was elected Vice-President for three years to deputise Lebanon-born Judge Nawaf Salam who takes over as International Court of Justice President from Joan Donoghue.
“Judge Sebutinde was today elected vice-president of the International Court of Justice by her peers, for a term of three years. Vice-president Sebutinde has been a member of the court since February 6th 2012,” The statement from the court read.
Sebutinde has been an International Court of Justice Judge for more than a decade and according to the Court, the Ugandan-born Judge has expertise in war crimes cases and handled several high-profile war crime trials including the prosecution of former Liberian politician Charles Taylor.
The Ugandan born Judge dominated international headlines last month with her dissenting opinion against the court’s ruling in the South Africa vs Israel case and out of the 17 Judges, Justice Sebutinde was the only one who voted against all the measures granted by the court.
Whereas South Africa, argued that there signs of genocidal intent by the Israeli government against Palestinians in Gaza, Justice Sebutinde said that the Israeli leaders were misunderstood and the statements were directed at Hamas and argued the genocidal intent allegations were invalid because Israel warned civilians of military operations in Gaza.
WHO IS JUSTICE JULIA SEBUTINDE?
Justice Julia Sebutinde is a Ugandan Judge serving her second term at the International Court of Justice and first African woman to sit on the International Court.
Julia Sebutinde was born in February 1954 and attended Lake Victoria Primary School in Entebbe, Uganda and after finishing Primary school, she went to prestigious Gayaza High School from where she later pursued her degree at Makerere University and received a Bachelor of Laws Degree in 1977 at the age of 23.
Later, as part of her education in 1990, at the age of 36, she went to Scotland where she earned a Masters of Laws Degree with distinction from the University of Edinburgh and in 2009, the same University honoured her with a Doctorate of Laws, recognizing her contributions to legal and judicial service.
According to the Institute for African Women in Law, Justice Sebutinde comes from a modest family and she was born during a period when Uganda was actively fighting for independence from the British Colonial office.
Before being elected to the International Court of Justice, she was a Judge of the Special Court for Sierra Leone where she was appointed to that position in 2007 and in February 2011, Sebutinde was one of three Presiding Judges in the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor for war crimes committed in Sierra Leone which found him guilty on 11 counts, including war crimes, crimes against humanity, terrorism, murder, rape and the use of child soldiers, resulting in a 50-year prison sentence.
