New York: Former High Court judge Justice Anthony Carmona SC, was yesterday elected at the United Nations as the second Trinidad and Tobago national to become a judge of the International Criminal Court.
Justice Carmona will serve a nine year term at the court located in the Hague in the Netherlands.
Justice Carmona was one of only two judges elected yesterday during the first round of balloting at the tenth session of the assembly of states parties to the Rome Statute of the ICC which commenced at United Nations headquarters in New York on December 12, 2011.
While there were only two candidates for the one available vacancy in the Asia region which was won by the Philippines; Justice Carmona faced a much tougher contest where he was one of the five candidates for the two seats available for the Latin American and Caribbean area.
Notwithstanding, Justice Carmona received 72 votes, the second highest number cast at yesterday’s election.
Queen's Counsel Karl Hudson Philips was the first Trinidad and Tobago national to be elected to the ICC, among the first group of judges in 2002.
Foreign Affairs and Communications Minister Dr Suruj Rambachan says the election of Justice carmona is an achievement for the judiciary of Trinidad and Tobago as it has demonstrated that local judges can hold their own among the most eminent jurists representing the different legal systems of the world.
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