Joan Donoghue

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Joan Donoghue
Vice President
Kirill Gevorgian
Preceded byAbdulqawi Yusuf
Succeeded byNawaf Salam
Judge of the International Court of Justice
In office
September 13, 2010 – February 6, 2024
Preceded byThomas Buergenthal
Succeeded bySarah Cleveland
Legal Adviser of the Department of State
Acting
In office
March 23, 2009 – June 25, 2009
PresidentBarack Obama
Preceded byJohn Bellinger
Succeeded byHarold Koh
Personal details
Born (1956-12-12) December 12, 1956 (age 67)
Yonkers, New York, U.S.
EducationUniversity of California, Santa Cruz (BA)
University of California, Berkeley (JD)

Joan E. Donoghue (born December 12, 1956) is an American lawyer, international legal scholar, former U.S. State Department official, and former president of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). She was first elected to the court in 2010, re-elected in 2014, and elected by the ICJ judges to be president of the ICJ in 2021.[1][2][3] She was the third woman to be elected to the ICJ and the first American woman elected as president of the Court.

Education and career

Donoghue graduated from the

University of California, Berkeley School of Law in 1981.[3] From 1981 to 1984, she was an attorney in private practice at Covington & Burling
, focusing on federal courts and litigation.

In the 1980s, Donoghue acted as an attorney-advisor for the U.S. in Nicaragua v. United States.[4] She was the general counsel of Freddie Mac from 2003 to 2005, and served as Principal Deputy Legal Adviser at the United States State Department from 2007 to 2010,[3] including as State Department Acting Legal Adviser in 2009.[5] She previously served as the Office of the Legal Adviser's Deputy Legal Adviser (2000–2001) Assistant Legal Adviser for Economic and Business Affairs (1994–1999); African Affairs (1993–1994); and Oceans, Environment, and Science (1989–1991).[6] She also served as Deputy General Counsel of the U.S. Treasury Department, overseeing all aspects of the Department's work, including international financial institutions.[6]

International Court of Justice

Donoghue was elected to the ICJ on September 9, 2010, to fill the place left vacant by the resignation of Thomas Buergenthal. Pursuant to the Statute of the International Court of Justice, Donoghue completed the remainder of the nine-year term for which Buergenthal had been elected, which expired on February 5, 2015.[2]

Donoghue's name had been the only nomination for this ICJ vacancy received by the secretary-general within the specified time.[7] In the General Assembly, Donoghue received 159 votes out of 167 valid ballots with 8 abstentions.[8] In the Security Council, she received all 15 votes.[1] Donoghue was sworn in as a member of the ICJ on September 13, 2010.[9]

Donoghue was only the fourth woman elected to be a member of the court since 1945.[4] Of the court's 15 members, four are now female (the others are Xue Hanqin, Julia Sebutinde, and Hilary Charlesworth[10]).[9][11]

In 2014, Donoghue was nominated for a second term on the ICJ by the U.S. National Group of the

International Court of Justice judges election, 2014
.

As an ICJ judge, she issued a dissenting opinion in the case

Stephen Schwebel and Green Hackworth).[16]

On January 26, 2024, Donoghue delivered an interim ruling on

South Africa v. Israel
on behalf of the ICJ.

References

  1. ^ a b United Nations Security Council S/PV.6381 2010-09-09. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
  2. ^ a b "General Assembly document GA/10978". September 9, 2010. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  3. ^ a b c International Court of Justice biography. Accessed December 4, 2010.
  4. ^ "The Nomination of Joan E. Donoghue to the International Court of Justice". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved July 13, 2021.
  5. ^ a b UN Lecture Series, Biography of Joan Donoghue, accessed at https://legal.un.org/avl/pdf/ls/Donoghue_bio.pdf
  6. ^ "Elections to fill vacancies in principal organs: election of a member of the International Court of Justice". August 23, 2010. UN document ID:S/2010/443. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  7. ^ A/64/PV.118 2010-09-09. Retrieved 2011-07-25.
  8. ^ a b "Swearing-in of two new Members of the Court at a public sitting on Monday 13 September 2010 at 10 a.m." (PDF) (Press release). International Court of Justice. September 10, 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 24, 2010. Retrieved July 25, 2011.
  9. ^ "Current Members | INTERNATIONAL COURT OF JUSTICE".
  10. ^ Marcia Coyle (September 13, 2010). "New Judge Will Mark Historic Moment for World Court". The National Law Journal.
  11. ^ "Statement on the Nomination of Joan E. Donoghue to the International Court of Justice". U.S. Department of State. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  12. ^ "Latest developments | Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 | International Court of Justice". www.icj-cij.org. Retrieved July 17, 2021.
  13. ^ Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965, International Court of Justice, Judge Joan Donoghue (dissenting opinion), available at https://www.icj-cij.org/public/files/case-related/169/169-20190225-ADV-01-06-EN.pdf
  14. ^ Bowcott, Owen (25 February 2019). "UN court rejects UK's claim of sovereignty over Chagos Islands". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 February 2019.
  15. ^ "Press Release (Unofficial): Judge Joan E. Donoghue (United States of America) elected President of the International Court of Justice; Judge Kirill Gevorgian (Russian Federation) elected Vice-President" (PDF). International Court of Justice. February 8, 2021. Retrieved February 9, 2021.

External links

Legal offices
Preceded by
President of the International Court of Justice

2021–2024
Succeeded by