Five new judges have been elected to serve on the International Court of Justice at the United Nations, after being appointed by The General Assembly and the Security Council.
The judges are from five different countries and will serve a nine-year term on the Court of Justice.
So who are the five new members?
What is the International Court of Justice?
The International Court of Justice is the judicial arm of the United Nations (UN) made up of 15 judges from all over UN-affiliated countries.
Its job is to settle legal disputes submitted to it by UN states and give "advisory opinions" on legal queries.
It was established in June 1945 by the Charter of the United Nations and began work in April 1946 and its official languages are English and French.
They are based in The Hague in The Netherlands.
Who are the new members of the International Court of Justice?
The Court is composed of 15 judges, who are elected for terms of office of nine years by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council.
The council re-elected one judge who has already been serving - Hilary Charlesworth of Australia.
The four new members are: Bogdan-Lucian Aurescu from Romania, Sarah Hull from Cleveland in the United States, Juan Manuel Gómez Robledo Verduzco from Mexico and Dire Tladi from South Africa.
Each justice will serve a nine-year term, starting on February 6 next year.
Judges are chosen based on their qualifications, not their nationality, but no two judges can be from the same country. Effort is also taken to ensure a balance in the composition of the Court.
How are they appointed?
Voting is done for the roles by a secret ballot.
In the complex balloting procedure, the General Assembly achieved a conclusive result – with five candidates securing absolute majority support – in the first round of voting.
There can be many rounds, which continue on until there is a majority ruling for each person in each seat.
Five seats come up for election every three years and there is no bar on consecutive terms.
Who missed out?
Others also stood for election but were not selected.
These were Chaloka Beyani from Zambia, Ahmed Amin Fathalla from Egypt, Kirill Gevorgian from Russia and Antoine Kesia-Mbe Mindua from the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
