Nomination and voting of ad hoc judges of international courts

Ad hoc judges have been used in many international courts as part of the guarantee of equality of arms since the establishment of the Permanent Court of International Justice in 1920. This thesis aims to provide a perspective on the work of ad hoc judges at international courts from the perspective of the general public and the judicial parties to the nomination. Using a case study approach, various aspects of ad hoc judges' activities are explored, from their nomination to their actual service at the courts. The case study focuses in particular on the International Court of Justice and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. It is further complemented by an authorial analysis of the voting patterns of the ad hoc judges of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. This work provides an overview of the situations in which the parties to the Court may nominate their ad hoc judges and what qualifications a given judge must meet. Analyses of the voting patterns of the ad hoc judges of the International Court of Justice confirm the reasons for concern about the impartiality of ad hoc judges, and the author's analysis of the voting patterns of the ad hoc judges of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea shows less concern about the impartiality of the judges, with ad hoc judges voting in favour of the nominating party in only slightly more cases. The ad hoc judges of the International Court of Justice, on the other hand, only rarely voted against the party of their nationality, according to the three analyses mentioned above. Trends affecting the nomination process of ad hoc judges are also discussed. The nationality of the judges plays an important role, with the majority of judges coming from the European or American area. Judges with prior experience in the courts of nomination are also often elected.