A post by Peter Jordens.

Renowned international jurist of Jamaican nationality, Mr. Patrick Lipton Robinson (1944), will be one of three new Members of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) who will be officially sworn in at a public sitting to be held on February 6, 2015 at 10 a.m. in the Great Hall of Justice at the Peace Palace, The Hague, The Netherlands, where the Court has its seat. The ICJ is the principal judicial organ of the United Nations and is also known as the World Court.

Robinson was elected in November 2014 to serve for a nine-year period starting in February 2015. He is the only Jamaican and the second Caribbean national to serve on the ICJ since its establishment 70 years ago. The first Caribbean national was Mohamed Shahabuddeen of Guyana who served as a judge on this body from 1988 to 1997.

Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller said Robinson’s elevation marks a historic moment, not only for Jamaica but the entire Caribbean. “The overwhelming support that he received throughout the rounds of voting from the UN membership is a reflection of the excellence of the Jamaican candidate, and the high regard with which the country is held in the international arena,” she said. Minister of Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade A.J. Nicholson said the outcome is an indication of the level of respect that Jamaica enjoys for its principled and balanced foreign policy and the result of an effective and strategic campaign waged by the foreign ministry and overseas Missions, particularly our Mission to the United Nations in New York. “I wish to thank Argentina for their very gracious gesture to withdraw from the process in the interest of Latin American and Caribbean unity. I also extend my heartfelt appreciation to the numerous countries that supported Jamaica in the process and to assure them and the entire international community that they will find in Judge Robinson a jurist of highest integrity, professionalism and objectivity,” Nicholson said.

Sources: http://www.icj-cij.org/presscom/files/2/18412.pdf and http://www.nycaribnews.com/news.php?viewStory=4822