In the dock: how are international judges chosen?

In his latest book UCL's Professor Philippe Sands uncovers the obscure, 'cattle market-like' processes at play in selecting some of the world's most influential judges. Here Professor Sands (UCL Laws) describes why he and his co-authors were inspired to investigate this process, and what they discovered. The full findings are available in Selecting International Judges: Principle, Process, and Politics , published by Oxford University Press. My colleagues Professor Kate Malleson (at Queen Mary) and Ruth Mackenzie (formerly UCL Laws and now at the University of Westminster) recognised that the legitimacy and effectiveness of international courts turns largely on the composition of the bench. Yet very little is known about how international judges are nominated at the national level, and then elected by obscure international processes. We wanted to open the door, drawing on our different experiences. Which states did you consider, and why?.