The government will present the former Costa Rican ambassador to the Netherlands, Sergio Ugalde Godinez, as a candidate for judge of the International Criminal Court (ICC). This was confirmed on Monday by the Foreign Minister of the Republic, Manuel Ventura Robles.
Ugalde was the Costa Rican ambassador to the Netherlands between 2014 and 2018. He was also part of the legal team that defended Costa Rica in the trials against Nicaragua in the International Court of Justice (ICJ) for borderline problems and for the violation of National sovereignty.
Ugalde has more than 20 years of experience in the field of international law and diplomacy and has been a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration since 2005.
He has lectured at the Hague Academy of International Law and have written about international law and international security. He was also a permanent representative before the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW), as Vice President of the XX Conference of States Parties to the Organization.
He was representative before the Assembly of States Parties to the ICC and vice-president of the Assembly of States Parties and Chairman of the Hague Working Group on the ICC between 2016 and 2017.
This Monday, Foreign Minister Ventura said that Ugalde promised to cover all the expenses of his campaign, which will culminate with the vote in November 2020.
In November 2020, during the 19th Assembly of States Parties (AEP), six magistrates will be elected to occupy one third of the 18 judicial positions of the ICC. These judicial elections are very important for the future of the ICC, since they represent a virtually total change in its leadership. The new judges will be elected for a period of 9 years, from 2021 to 2030.