Former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak has resigned from the panel of judges at the International Court of Justice in the Hague, according to Israeli media, on Wednesday.
The move was for “personal-family” reasons. He thanked the Court for the cooperation he received from the staff and the judges.
Barak was selected to serve as Ad Hoc Judge on the Court by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a right that a country can exercise if no judge of the country’s nationality is present on the bench.
Judges do not necessarily have to be of the same nationality as the government which selects them.
The government will now need to decide whether to select a new judge to replace Barak.
Who will replace Barak?
Legal sources told Ynet that it was not at all certain that a new judge would be chosen. The same sources speculated that if a new judge were selected, the top contenders would be the previous presidents of the Supreme Court, such as Esther Hayut or Dorit Beinisch.
Israeli officials have stated they will appoint a future judge as long as the Court remains “fact-based,” the officials told Ynet that so far that the Court’s orders have not “harmed the IDF’s ability to advance the achievement of the war goals.”
President Isaac Herzog thanked Barak for his service on the Court, saying, ” [Barak’s] special contribution and influence on the legal world in Israel and in the world was of great importance in the legal campaign against those who seek our harm. We will continue to stand firm against the evil, the hypocrisy, and the false plots against the State of Israel and the IDF.”
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