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World Court elects Judge Yuji Iwasawa as new president
Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 3, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 25, 2026
Global Banking & Finance Review®
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Published by Global Banking & Finance Review®
Posted on March 3, 2025
2 min readLast updated: January 25, 2026
Judge Yuji Iwasawa is elected as the new president of the International Court of Justice, succeeding Nawaf Salam, with a term ending in 2027.
(Refiles to correct spelling of judge's first name to Yuji in headline)
By Charlotte Van Campenhout
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) -The International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, said on Monday that Judge Yuji Iwasawa had been elected as its new president to complete former president Nawaf Salam's term that ends on February 5, 2027.
Salam resigned in January to become Lebanon's prime minister.
Iwasawa, who is Japanese, has been a member of the World Court since 2018 and before that was a professor of international law at the University of Tokyo and chairperson of the United Nations Human Rights Committee.
The ICJ, the U.N.'s highest court and based in The Hague, was established in 1945 to resolve disputes between states.
It recently gained global attention in the ongoing case surrounding genocide accusations against Israel - which it has denied - in the Gaza war.
In July, the ICJ ruled that Israel's occupation since the 1967 Middle East war of Palestinian territories and its settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem were illegal and that it must withdraw as soon as possible.
For Palestinians and most of the international community, the settlements are considered illegal. Israel disputes this, citing the Jewish people's historical, biblical and political links to the area as well as security considerations.
(Reporting by Charlotte Van Campenhout; editing by Mark Heinrich)
Judge Yuji Iwasawa has been elected as the new president of the International Court of Justice.
Before joining the World Court in 2018, Iwasawa was a professor of international law at the University of Tokyo.
The ICJ has gained attention for its involvement in the case surrounding genocide accusations against Israel in the Gaza war.
In July, the ICJ ruled that Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories and its settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem are illegal.
The ICJ, established in 1945, serves as the U.N.'s highest court to resolve disputes between states.
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