United Nations appoints two Caribbean judges to serve UNDT

Two Judges from the Caribbean region has been elected to serve 7 year term of office on the United Nations Dispute Tribunal (UNDT) as half judges.

Justice Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell of Trinidad and Tobago and Justice Francis Belle of Barbados were elected by the United Nations General Assembly during its 73rd session. UNDT half-time judges serve on rotation in New York (USA), Geneva (Switzerland) and Nairobi (Kenya).

During the General assembly session a total of four judges were elected by secret ballot including Caribbean judges. Apart from Justice Belle and Justice Donaldson-Honeywell,  Justice Rachel Sikwese of Malawi and Justice Margaret Tibulya of Uganda, were also appointed to serve UNDT.

Judges will serve on one of two entities — the other being the United Nations Appeals Tribunal — that comprise the Organisation’s system of the administration of justice for employment-related disputes.

Half-time judges on the Dispute Tribunal are deployed up to a cumulative period of six months per year, as decided by the President based on the caseload and any judicial absences affecting the work of the Tribunal.

The elected judges were selected from a circulated list of candidates recommended by the Council. A total of 325 applications were received globally, 51 of which came from Latin America and the Caribbean. 96 candidates advanced to the written assessment stage and 23 were invited to interview with the Internal Justice Council at the Hague, Netherlands.

In the last, only 7 candidates received the Council’s recommendation for consideration of an appointment by the General Assembly and 4 were appointed by the General Assembly by way of a secret ballot in an election process.