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The International Commission of Jurists (ICJ), a body that advocates for human rights and the rule of law, has formally requested an investigation into International Court of Justice (ICJ) Vice President Julia Sebutinde.
The request stems from recent comments she made about Israel, which the commission claims reveal a bias that compromises her judicial integrity.
Sebutinde, a Ugandan judge who is part of the 17-judge panel hearing the genocide case against Israel, now faces the possibility of being removed from the case.
Sebutinde's Dissenting Opinion
The call for an investigation follows Sebutinde's controversial dissenting opinion in the ICJ's January 2024 ruling on provisional measures in the case brought by South Africa.
In its filing, South Africa alleged that Israel's actions in Gaza were genocidal and intended to "bring about the destruction of a substantial part of the Palestinian national, racial and ethnical group".
The court ordered six emergency measures to be implemented, with 15 of the 17 judges voting in favour of them.
An Israeli judge voted for two of the six measures to be implemented, while Sebutinde was the only judge to vote against all of them. In her dissenting opinion, she wrote that the dispute between Israel and Palestine was "essentially and historically a political one" and not a legal dispute for the court to resolve.
A Judge's Duty of Impartiality
The formal request for the investigation was sent to the ICJ President, Yuji Iwasawa, and was signed by the International Commission of Jurists’ Secretary-General, Santiago Canton.
The letter cited remarks made by Sebutinde on 10 August at Watoto Church in Kampala, Uganda, where she was quoted as saying, "The Lord is counting on me to stand on the side of Israel."
The commission's letter argued that such remarks are inconsistent with judicial independence and impartiality.
They referenced Principle 2 of the UN Basic Principles on the Independence of the Judiciary, which states that judges must decide matters "impartially, on the basis of facts and in accordance with the law, without any...improper influences."
The commission has requested that while the investigation takes place, Sebutinde be removed from further proceedings in the ICJ case.
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Julia Sebutinde
An Unprecedented Move
The ICJ statute specifies that a judge can only be dismissed if other members unanimously agree that they no longer meet the required conditions. This has never happened in the court's history.
The ICJ website outlines that judges must be "of high moral character" and must exercise their powers "impartially and conscientiously."
The statute also makes it clear that a judge is not a delegate of their home country’s government. In a sign of the international scrutiny surrounding the matter, the government of Uganda had previously distanced itself from Sebutinde's dissenting opinion.
In January of last year, Uganda’s Ambassador to the UN, Adonia Ayebare, posted on X that "Justice Sebutinde’s ruling at the International Court of Justice does not represent the Government of Uganda’s position on the situation in Palestine."
The Road Ahead
The request for an investigation, if granted, would set a historic precedent for the court and put Sebutinde's position on the line.
The final verdict on the main genocide case is still awaited. In a related development, the International Criminal Court last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes.
Meanwhile, several rights organisations have accused Israel of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the nearly 23-month war, which has claimed the lives of over 62,000 Palestinians.
The allegations against Sebutinde only add to the mounting pressure and global attention on the ongoing