The Government of President Gabriel Boric announced that it will not support the candidacy of Chilean jurist Claudio Grossman to join the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague. It should be noted that the diplomat appeared as one of those interested in assuming the position vacated by Antonio Augusto Cançado, a Brazilian judge who died on May 29.
Grossman, who was one of Chile’s agents before the ICJ in the framework of the maritime lawsuits that the country faced from Peru and Bolivia, was one of the diplomats who received the greatest support from national politics, becoming a letter that was sure to be appointed to the position because it was closer to the left.
The determination was informed to the lawyer by the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Antonia Urrejola, and from the portfolio they issued a statement explaining the reasons that the Executive had for not sponsoring his candidacy.
In this regard, they pointed out that “an election to the ICJ implies a large-scale campaign, which must be worked on as a priority and well in advance. The previous administration, despite knowing this information, did not present Professor Grossman or any other candidate to the ICJ for the period 2024-2033, nor was the possibility of doing so before this administration raised by any interest group or National Group of the Permanent Court of Arbitration”.
“The current scenario of exchange of support – a mechanism through which a country supports the candidacy of a third party in exchange for the vote in an election of its own interest – is particularly worrying for Chile’s candidacy for the Human Rights Council, which was presented in 2021 by the administration of President Sebastián Piñera and on which the support provided by the current Government should be understood as a State policy and a priority on the foreign policy agenda,” they pointed out.
“In the scenario described, considering that such an important election requires advance planning, vote availability, budget resources and campaign strategy, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is unfortunately not in a position to present this candidacy for the ongoing electoral process,” they added. .
In that sense, they pointed out that “we are sure that in the near future -and taking into account the relevance of the International Court in The Hague- Chile will be able to make an application to this main judicial body of the United Nations Organization, which will be presented with the serious and adequate anticipation and planning that the position deserves, in order to ensure its success”.
Grossman is a renowned Chilean academic and jurist with vast international experience, he was the co-agent in the maritime delimitation case against Peru and Bolivia at the International Court of Justice in The Hague. In addition, he is a member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the United Nations Committee against Torture and the UN International Law Commission, where he was re-elected with the first majority for the period 2023-2027.
