The Court comprises 15 seats. When the original fifteen judges were elected in 1946, they drew lots to determine which five would have 3-year initial terms, which five would have 6-year initial terms, and which five would have 9-year initial terms. From then onwards, all terms have been nine years, with five seats being up for election every three years. The seats are numbered according to the length of the initial term and then in order of seniority of the first judge to hold the seat.
There are no formal rules for the allocation of seats, other than that no two may be nationals of the same state. In practice, the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council have each had a permanent seat on the Court, except between 1967 and 1985 when there was no Chinese judge. The remaining seats have been informally allocated by regional groups in the same way as the fifteen seats on the Security Council. Since 1970, the conventional allocation is three seats to Asia Pacific, three seats to Africa, two seats to Latin America and the Caribbean, two seats to Eastern Europe and five seats to Western Europe and Others.
Liberia South West Africa (Liberia v. South Africa) 1960–1966
Mohsen AghahosseiniIranIranAerial Incident of 3 July 1988 (Islamic Republic of Iran v. United States of America) 1989–1996
Roberto AgoItalyHondurasArbitral Award Made by the King of Spain on 23 December 1906 (Honduras v. Nicaragua) 1958–1960
Bola AjibolaNigeriaNigeria Land and Maritime Boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria (Cameroon v. Nigeria: Equatorial Guinea intervening) 1996–2002
Nigeria Request for Interpretation of the Judgment of 11 June 1998 in the Case concerning the Land and Maritime Boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria (Cameroon v. Nigeria), Preliminary Objections (Nigeria v. Cameroon) 1998–1999
New Zealand Nuclear Tests (New Zealand v. France) 1973–1974
Suzanne BastidFranceTunisia Application for Revision and Interpretation of the Judgment of 24 February 1982 in the Case concerning the Continental Shelf (Tunisia/Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (Tunisia v. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) 1984–1985
Marshall Islands Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. India) 2014–present
Marshall Islands Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. Pakistan) 2014–present
Marshall Islands Obligations concerning Negotiations relating to Cessation of the Nuclear Arms Race and to Nuclear Disarmament (Marshall Islands v. United Kingdom) 2014–present
Charles BrowerUnited StatesColombiaQuestion of the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia beyond 200 nautical miles from the Nicaraguan Coast (Nicaragua v. Colombia) 2013–present
RomaniaMaritime Delimitation in the Black Sea (Romania v. Ukraine) 2004–2009
Colombia Aerial Herbicide Spraying (Ecuador v. Colombia) 2008–2013
Thailand Request for Interpretation of the Judgment of 15 June 1962 in the Case concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand) (Cambodia v. Thailand) 2011–present
Timor-Leste Questions relating to the Seizure and Detention of Certain Documents and Data (Timor-Leste v. Australia) 2013–2015
Vojin DimitrijevićYugoslaviaYugoslavia Application for Revision of the Judgment of 11 July 1996 in the Case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Yugoslavia), Preliminary Objections (Yugoslavia v. Bosnia and Herzegovina) 2001–2003
Ahmed Sadek El-KosheriEgyptLibya Questions of Interpretation and Application of the 1971 Montreal Convention arising from the Aerial Incident at Lockerbie (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v. United States of America) 1992–2003
Nicaragua Certain Activities carried out by Nicaragua in the Border Area (Costa Rica v. Nicaragua) 2010–present
Cambodia Request for Interpretation of the Judgment of 15 June 1962 in the Case concerning the Temple of Preah Vihear (Cambodia v. Thailand) (Cambodia v. Thailand) 2011–present
NicaraguaConstruction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River (Nicaragua v. Costa Rica) 2011–present
Sead HodžićBosnia and HerzegovinaBosnia and Herzegovina Application for Revision of the Judgment of 11 July 1996 in the Case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Yugoslavia), Preliminary Objections (Yugoslavia v. Bosnia and Herzegovina) 2001–2003
Robert Yewdall JenningsUnited KingdomUnited Kingdom Questions of Interpretation and Application of the 1971 Montreal Convention arising from the Aerial Incident at Lockerbie (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya v. United Kingdom) 1992–2003
Libya Continental Shelf (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya/Malta) 1982–1985
Libya Application for Revision and Interpretation of the Judgment of 24 February 1982 in the Case concerning the Continental Shelf (Tunisia/Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (Tunisia v. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) 1984–1985
Philippe KirschBelgiumBelgium Questions relating to the Obligation to Prosecute or Extradite (Belgium v. Senegal) 2009–2012
Ahmed MahiouAlgeriaBosnia and HerzegovinaApplication of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro) 1993–2007
GuineaAhmadou Sadio Diallo (Republic of Guinea v. Democratic Republic of the Congo) 1998–2012
Bosnia and Herzegovina Application for Revision of the Judgment of 11 July 1996 in the Case concerning Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Yugoslavia), Preliminary Objections (Yugoslavia v. Bosnia and Herzegovina) 2001–2003
Democratic Republic of the Congo Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (New Application: 2002) (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Rwanda) 2002–2006
Democratic Republic of the Congo Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (New Application: 2002) (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Rwanda) 2002–2006
Cameroon Land and Maritime Boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria (Cameroon v. Nigeria: Equatorial Guinea intervening) 1996–2002
Cameroon Request for Interpretation of the Judgment of 11 June 1998 in the Case concerning the Land and Maritime Boundary between Cameroon and Nigeria (Cameroon v. Nigeria), Preliminary Objections (Nigeria v. Cameroon) 1998–1999
Gaetano MorelliItalyItaly Monetary Gold Removed from Rome in 1943 (Italy v. France, United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and United States of America) 1953–1954
Geoffrey PalmerNew ZealandNew Zealand Request for an Examination of the Situation in Accordance with Paragraph 63 of the Court's Judgment of 20 December 1974 in the Nuclear Tests (New Zealand v. France) Case 1995
Felipe PaolilloUruguayEl SalvadorApplication for Revision of the Judgment of 11 September 1992 in the Case concerning the Land, Island and Maritime Frontier Dispute (El Salvador/Honduras: Nicaragua intervening) (El Salvador v. Honduras) 2002–2003
Mohamed ShahabuddeenGuyanaBahrainMaritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions between Qatar and Bahrain (Qatar v. Bahrain) 1991–2001
IndonesiaSovereignty over Pulau Ligitan and Pulau Sipadan (Indonesia/Malaysia) 1998–2002
Bruno SimmaGermanyCosta RicaMaritime Delimitation in the Caribbean Sea and the Pacific Ocean (Costa Rica v. Nicaragua) 2014–present
Leonid SkotnikovRussiaNicaraguaQuestion of the Delimitation of the Continental Shelf between Nicaragua and Colombia beyond 200 nautical miles from the Nicaraguan Coast (Nicaragua v. Colombia) 2013–present
QatarMaritime Delimitation and Territorial Questions between Qatar and Bahrain (Qatar v. Bahrain) 1991–2001
SpainFisheries Jurisdiction (Spain v. Canada) 1995–1998
SpainLegality of Use of Force (Yugoslavia v. Spain) 1999
HondurasTerritorial and Maritime Dispute between Nicaragua and Honduras in the Caribbean Sea (Nicaragua v. Honduras) 1999–2007
Honduras Application for Revision of the Judgment of 11 September 1992 in the Case concerning the Land, Island and Maritime Frontier Dispute (El Salvador/Honduras: Nicaragua intervening) (El Salvador v. Honduras) 2002–2003
Uruguay Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay (Argentina v. Uruguay) 2006–2010
