Singapore's Rena Lee Seeks Historic ICJ Seat as UN Prepares for November Vote

A first bid with 33 nominations behind it

Singapore's Ambassador for International Law, Rena Lee, has received nominations from 33 national groups of legal experts as she seeks one of five seats on the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The United Nations General Assembly and Security Council are scheduled to vote in New York on November 3, 2026, for judges serving the 2027 to 2036 term.

The bid is Singapore's first for the UN's principal judicial body since joining the organisation in 1965. Lee's nominations span all five UN regional groupings, giving her campaign a geographical reach that extends well beyond Southeast Asia. The decision now rests with governments, which cast the election ballots.

Lee is among 10 candidates competing for five places on the court's bench of 15 judges in The Hague. To win, she needs at least 97 votes in the General Assembly and eight in the Security Council. Success in just one body is insufficient.

If elected, Lee would become the first woman from Southeast Asia to serve on the ICJ. Her candidacy also brings attention to the limited representation of small states on a court that decides legal disputes between countries of vastly different sizes and resources.

Why Singapore sees the court as a matter of security

Law Minister Edwin Tong set out Singapore's position at the UN General Assembly debate on the ICJ's annual report on October 29. For a small country, he said, an international system governed by law is a matter of survival. Rules provide a way to defend sovereignty and settle disagreements through legal arguments rather than force.

Tong described the equality that the court offers countries appearing before it:

All states, big or small, old or young, are treated as sovereign equals before the court.

Singapore's campaign connects that principle to a practical contribution: putting forward a lawyer with experience negotiating international agreements and advising government. National University of Singapore Associate Professor Vincent-Joël Proulx said Lee's election would broaden the representation of small countries and island states while strengthening Singapore's contribution to peaceful dispute settlement.

An ICJ judge serves independently. Lee's responsibility, if elected, would be to interpret and apply international law impartially, including when the legal issues concern the interests of her own country.

From government legal work to the high seas treaty

Lee has spent more than three decades working in international law, diplomacy and public service. Her career includes positions at Singapore's Attorney-General's Chambers and Ministry of Defence, as well as the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore, where she was chief executive.

As Singapore's oceans ambassador from 2018 to 2023, she led negotiations on an agreement to conserve and sustainably use marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. She chaired the UN Intergovernmental Conference that brought those negotiations to a conclusion.

The agreement, commonly called the high seas treaty or BBNJ agreement, concerns marine life in ocean areas beyond national jurisdiction. Negotiating it required countries to agree on shared rules for places where no single government has authority to decide everything on its own.

That work brought Lee international recognition, including a place on Time magazine's list of the 100 most influential people in 2024. She later became Ambassador for International Law. Her legal experience covers the law of the sea, climate and environmental law, international humanitarian law and human rights.

The ICJ Statute allows more than one professional route to the bench. Candidates must have high moral character and either meet the qualifications for their country's highest judicial offices or be recognised experts in international law. Lee's candidacy draws on her experience as a legal practitioner, government adviser and diplomat.

A region with only one previous ICJ judge

Southeast Asia has had just one judge on the ICJ since the court began work in 1946: former Philippine Chief Justice Cesar Fernando Cabrera Bengzon, who served from 1967 to 1976. Lee's election would bring a Southeast Asian national back to the bench after more than five decades.

Small states have also had limited representation. Only 20 judges from small states have served on the court since it began operating. Their number includes Patrick Robinson of Jamaica, Julia Sebutinde of Uganda and Abdulqawi Yusuf of Somalia.

Article 9 of the ICJ Statute requires the court's membership, taken together, to represent the world's main legal systems and forms of civilisation. The requirement concerns the composition of the whole bench, while each judge remains bound to act independently.

Tong linked judicial diversity to the court's work, saying different legal traditions, backgrounds and perspectives sharpen judicial reasoning and strengthen the legitimacy of its decisions. For Singapore, the argument is that a world court benefits from judges whose professional experience includes the concerns of small countries as well as large powers.

How nominations become an international campaign

Lee's candidacy was announced in 2024 and formally nominated in February 2026. Although governments campaign for candidates, the formal nominations come from national groups of senior jurists and legal experts.

Each group may nominate up to four people, with no more than two holding its own nationality. Groups can therefore support candidates from other countries. This gives a candidate opportunities to secure recognition across regions before governments begin voting.

Lee received 33 national group nominations. Among other candidates, Britain's Dapo Akande received 43, France's François Alabrune 40, Kenya's Phoebe N Okowa 26 and South Korea's Jin-Hyun Paik 21.

Akande's total is 10 higher than Lee's, while Lee's is 12 higher than Paik's. The next stage is a different decision: governments must choose whom to support in the General Assembly and Security Council, where the required majorities determine the winners.

Lee's nominations cover the Asia-Pacific, African, Eastern European, Latin American and Caribbean, and Western European and Other States groups. Proulx said Singapore's willingness to undertake a campaign requiring substantial diplomatic effort reflected its confidence in international legal institutions.

Ten candidates and the regional contest

The field includes lawyers, diplomats and judges from Europe, Africa, Asia and Latin America. Alongside Lee, the candidates are Dapo Akande of the United Kingdom, François Alabrune of France, Taoheed Olufemi Elias of Nigeria, Mahmoud Daifallah Hmoud of Jordan, Luz del Carmen Ibáñez Carranza of Peru, Charles Chernor Jalloh of Sierra Leone, Phoebe N Okowa of Kenya, Jin-Hyun Paik of South Korea and Marcelo Vazquez-Bermudez of Ecuador.

Regional representation is an established consideration in ICJ elections. One of the five seats is expected to go to a candidate from the Asia-Pacific region, where Lee's main competitors are Hmoud, a sitting ICJ judge, and Paik, a former judge and president of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. The regional expectation is informal; candidates still need the required votes in both UN bodies.

Okowa is seeking a full term after winning an election in November 2025 to complete the term of Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf, who resigned. Her current tenure runs until 2027. She defeated Jalloh after four rounds in that earlier contest, and both are standing again.

Okowa's background includes serving as counsel before the ICJ and becoming the first African woman on the International Law Commission, a UN body that works on the development and codification of international law. Her campaign illustrates the range of experience against which Lee's diplomatic and legal career will be considered.

Two ballots, two majorities and no veto

The General Assembly and Security Council vote separately and simultaneously. Every candidate needs an absolute majority in each: at least 97 votes among the Assembly's 193 members and eight among the Council's 15 members.

Each voter may select up to five candidates. A candidate with enough Assembly support can still fall short in the Council, or the reverse. Only candidates chosen by both bodies are elected.

The Security Council's five permanent members are China, France, Russia, the United Kingdom and the United States. Unlike many Council decisions, the election of ICJ judges is not subject to a permanent member's veto. The requirement is eight votes, without a separate rule demanding the permanent members' agreement.

The figures show why candidates need two kinds of support. The Assembly requires a broad coalition across the UN membership. The Council requires a majority within a much smaller group, whose members may have different preferences.

Proulx said countries may negotiate reciprocal support for candidacies across international bodies, including through diplomatic meetings and official visits. Such arrangements generally take place through private channels, making their frequency difficult to measure. No public ballot total for Lee will be available until voting takes place.

What happens if the voting stalls?

The ICJ elects five of its 15 judges every three years. Each full term lasts nine years, allowing the court to retain most of its members while renewing one third of the bench.

If fewer than five candidates reach the required majority, further rounds are held to fill the remaining places. If the two UN bodies choose different candidates, they continue voting separately until their choices match for the vacant seats. Under established practice, a ballot in which more than five candidates achieve the necessary majority is set aside and voting is repeated.

The ICJ Statute provides for a joint conference if three meetings fail to resolve the remaining vacancies. Singapore University of Social Sciences Senior Lecturer Michael Ng said that mechanism has never been used, even though previous elections have produced deadlocks.

The campaign and election timetable is:

• 2024: Singapore announced Lee's candidacy.
• February 2026: Lee was formally nominated.
• October 29, 2026: Tong addressed the UN on the ICJ and maritime security.
• November 3, 2026: The General Assembly and Security Council are scheduled to elect five judges in New York.
• 2027 to 2036: The elected judges will serve the new term.

Tong's visit to New York runs from October 28 to November 4 for International Law Week and the ICJ elections. He is due to attend the November 3 vote.

Singapore already knows the court's practical reach

The ICJ has directly shaped Singapore's relations with a neighbour. In 2008, it awarded sovereignty over Pedra Branca to Singapore and Middle Rocks to Malaysia. It ruled that sovereignty over South Ledge depended on which country's territorial waters it lies within.

Malaysia withdrew requests to revise and interpret that judgment in 2018. The proceedings provide a concrete example of neighbouring states using an international court to settle a dispute over territory.

The ICJ hears legal disputes between states that have accepted its authority to decide them. It also gives advisory opinions on legal questions referred by authorised UN organs and agencies. Those functions range from resolving a particular disagreement between countries to explaining international law for the UN system.

The International Criminal Court has a different task: prosecuting individuals accused of international crimes. The ICJ's focus is the legal responsibilities and disputes of states. Lee is seeking election to that state dispute court.

Maritime rules connect Lee's record to Singapore's concerns

Tong's October 29 engagements also showed how Singapore's support for international law connects to shipping, trade and technology. Speaking at a Security Council debate on maritime security, he represented the Oceans Four, an informal coalition of Fiji, Jamaica, Malta and Singapore.

The four countries helped negotiate the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), the treaty setting the legal framework for activities at sea. Lee's leadership of the high seas treaty negotiations forms part of that same field of international law.

Tong said artificial intelligence could improve navigation, communications and early warning systems. He also warned that drones, autonomous vessels and cyberattacks could disrupt shipping, damage subsea cables, compromise navigation or interfere with port operations.

The Oceans Four welcomed the International Maritime Organisation's voluntary Maritime Autonomous Surface Ships Code and supported work towards binding rules. Such rules would govern the safe introduction of commercial ships operated remotely or with autonomous systems.

Tong also called for protection of transit passage, the right of ships and aircraft to pass through straits used for international navigation under UNCLOS. He warned against unlawful restrictions that deny or obstruct that passage.

For Singapore, these are concrete reasons to invest in institutions that develop, interpret and apply international rules. Lee's campaign brings together that national interest and a prospective judicial duty: contributing legal expertise to a court whose judges must serve independently of their governments.

Key Points

• Rena Lee is Singapore's first candidate for the ICJ since the country joined the UN in 1965.
• Ten candidates are competing for five seats for the 2027 to 2036 term, with voting scheduled for November 3, 2026.
• Lee received 33 national group nominations spanning all five UN regional groupings.
• Election requires at least 97 General Assembly votes and eight Security Council votes. Permanent members have no veto in this election.
• Lee led negotiations on the high seas biodiversity treaty and has more than three decades of legal and public service experience.
• If elected, she would be the first female ICJ judge from Southeast Asia and would serve independently, rather than represent Singapore.