The Assembly of States Parties will elect six judges of the International Criminal Court at its twenty-fifth session, from 7 to 17 December 2026.
In accordance with the legal framework of the Rome Statute, article 36, paragraph 3(a), the judges of the International Criminal Court "shall be chosen from among persons of high moral character, impartiality and integrity who possess the qualifications required in their respective States for appointment to the highest judicial office."
For that purpose, and pursuant to resolution ICC-ASP/22/Res.3, paragraph 81, the Assembly established a permanent due diligence procedure for elected officials. Pursuant to paragraph 12 of the due diligence procedure set out in annex II of this resolution, "the IOM shall open a confidential channel for the receipt of allegations of misconduct against any of the candidates nominated by States or included in a public list provided to the Assembly of States Parties."
Paragraph 11 of the due diligence procedure provides that '[f]or the purposes of this due diligence procedure, "misconduct" refers to human rights violations; incidents in the workplace or in connection with work of harassment, including sexual harassment, abuse of authority, discrimination and bullying; as well as other ethical or legal breaches of a serious nature such as fraud or corruption.'
The attention of nominating States Parties is drawn to the second sentence of paragraph 13 of the Due diligence procedure, that "States Parties that have nominated candidates for judges shall ensure that the process for submitting information to the channel, including how allegations received will be treated, is provided to the organizations where the candidate has previously worked or is currently working, noting that they are being considered as judicial candidates at the Court."
The list of candidates nominated for election is available on the webpage of the Assembly at the following link: https://asp.icc-cpi.int/elections/judges/2026/Nominations
Any allegation of misconduct as defined above may be reported confidentially no later than 31 May 2026, to the Independent Oversight Mechanism (IOM), a subsidiary body of the Assembly, at the following email address:
The allegation and its review by the IOM shall be kept confidential at all times and it will be treated in accordance with the provisions of the due diligence procedure. Any questions regarding the process can be directed to the above email address.
For more information, see: https://asp.icc-cpi.int/elections/judges/2026
