UK loses its seat at International Court of Justice for first time after candidate withdrawn

The UK is set to lose its seat at the International Court of Justice for the first time in the UN body’s 71-year history.

The government has withdrawn candidate Christopher Greenwood after six rounds of votes with India’s Dalveer Bhandari ended in deadlock.

Sir Christopher was hoping to be elected for a second nine-year term as one of 15 judges on the bench in the Hague.

His withdrawal means the Indian judge will take the position, with four other judges already having been elected to the ICJ.

It will be the first time the UK has not had a representative on the UN's most powerful court since helping found it in 1946.

The British ambassador to the UN, Matthew Rycroft said: "The UK has concluded that it is wrong to continue to take up the valuable time of the Security Council and the UN General Assembly with further rounds of elections.

"The UK congratulates the successful candidates, including Judge Bhandari of India.

"We are naturally disappointed, but it was a competitive field with six strong candidates.

"If the UK could not win in this run-off, then we are pleased that it is a close friend like India that has done so instead.”

He said the UK would continue to support the ICJ “in line with our commitment to the importance of the rule of law in the UN system and in the international community more generally”.

However, there are fears that the UK's international presence may be diminishing as other countries begin to overlook it.