Ambassador Rena Lee elected to International Court of Justice with most votes, becomes first Singaporean judge
Singapore's Ambassador International Law Rena Lee has been elected as judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA) and Ministry of Law (MinLaw) announced in a joint press statement on Wednesday (Nov 4) morning.She is the first Singaporean and the first woman from Southeast Asia to be elected to the ICJ, the ministries added."This is a significant milestone for Singapore," they said.The 57-year-old ambassador begins her term as judge of the ICJ in February next year, alongside Dapo Akande of the United Kingdom, Francois Alabrune of France, Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan and Phoebe Okawa of Kenya.Their term is from 2027 to 2036. Held in both the United Nations (UN) General Assembly (UNGA) and UN Security Council (UNSC) at the UN headquarters in New York on Nov 3, Lee secured an absolute majority in both places.She received 151 out of 191 votes at the UNGA and 13 out of 15 votes at the UNSC."The strong support reflects the international community’s strong trust and confidence in Ambassador Lee," the ministries said of the result.