Remarks by Minister for Foreign Affairs Dr Vivian Balakrishnan in honour of Singapore's candidate to be a Judge of the International Court of Justice Ambassador for International Law Rena Lee, 8 June 2026

Excellencies, Ladies and Gentlemen,

1              Thank you for joining us today. We met as a group last year. It was January 2025, and I explained why we were putting our Ambassador for International Law Mrs Rena Lee up as a candidate to be a Judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).  In fact, this is the first time we are nominating a candidate since we joined the United Nations and since independence in 1965.

2              For us, because of the fact that we are small and our history is so short, the concept of upholding international law and abiding by the UN Charter has been the cornerstone of our foreign policy. A strong rules-based multilateral system and upholding international law are especially critical for our security and survival. But we all know that the multilateral system is coming under severe stress. There is increasing volatility and increasing conflicts even as we speak, and we know that there is an erosion of global norms. Adherence to international law is becoming less consistent, and again, at risk of being impolite, major powers have the flexibility and the option of taking a narrower definition of their national interests and feel less inhibited in exercising leverage over others in order to secure immediate advantage.

3              The developments over the past year demonstrated the consequences of these changes on the geopolitical situation, and the rise of tensions everywhere. Let us take a current example – the closure of the Strait of Hormuz. It has laid bare what happens when the right of unimpeded transit passage in Straits Used for International Navigation, which in fact is enshrined in the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS), is treated as discretionary privilege rather than a right. The disruption to the right of unimpeded transit passage has now caused a global energy crisis. It has enhanced economic uncertainty and eroded the social security of many all over the world. These effects will continue to be felt for some time to come, even in the immediate aftermath of the cessation of hostilities, whenever that will be. These impacts will be long lasting.

4              At a time like this, it is incumbent on like-minded States who believe in the rule of international law to step forward, and to strengthen the rules-based system that has served all of us well especially for the past eight decades. Singapore, therefore, by definition has to be a strong advocate of international law, and we are proud that we have contributed to its development.

5              Ambassador Tommy Koh, who is here with us this afternoon, and Professor S Jayakumar were both instrumental in the conclusion and adoption of UNCLOS in 1982. It is Ambassador Koh’s baby that he delivered. Ambassador Koh said that UNCLOS ended “a period of chaos and unilateralism”, including armed conflicts and an avalanche of claims by many countries following the end of the Second World War. UNCLOS provided a legal framework governing all maritime activities, upholding the safety and security of the seas and enabling maritime trade. This, in turn, has contributed to economic development and opportunities all over the world. UNCLOS gave birth to three successful institutions – the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, the International Seabed Authority, and the Commission on the Limits of the Continental Shelf. All these are critical anchors of the rules-based international order.

6              Four decades on, Ambassador Rena Lee has built on the legacy that Professor Tommy Koh conceived, and Ambassador Rena Lee was able to shepherd the adoption of the Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction (or BBNJ) Agreement, under the UNCLOS framework. I think you would all agree with me that to be able to get anything agreed by universal consensus in this day and age is a remarkable achievement. The BBNJ Agreement entered into force on 17 January 2026. This marked a new era of ocean governance in areas beyond national jurisdiction. The adoption of the BBNJ Agreement by consensus and the fact that it has now reached past the threshold to come into force are significant milestones. 

7              We nominate Ambassador Lee to be a Judge of the ICJ as an expression of the next step in Singapore’s longstanding journey of supporting international law and the UN Charter. As the principal judicial organ of the UN, the ICJ has been a key pillar of the rules-based multilateral system since the Court was established 80 years ago.

8              Singapore actually puts forward very few candidatures to UN bodies, and we do so only when we feel that we can make a constructive contribution and when there is a real need.

9              We believe we have a strong candidate in Ambassador Lee. She has the professional expertise, the rigour, the integrity, and the temperament to make a good Judge. She has three decades of experience as an international law practitioner, government legal advisor, diplomat, and negotiator, and I can vouch for her from personal experience. Besides the law of the sea, Ambassador Lee is well versed in climate change and environmental law, international humanitarian law, immunities and privileges, and human rights law. She is a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, participated in negotiations for Paris Agreement on climate change, and served as an elected member of the Legal and Technical Commission of the International Seabed Authority. Her work shepherding the BBNJ Agreement consensus speaks volumes of her ability to forge understanding on matters of international law among countries from diverse, sometimes even opposing, backgrounds. We believe her breadth of experience and expertise in these diverse areas make her eminently well-suited to contribute meaningfully to the Court, with its deliberations over a wide range of cases. And I think we all know that in the future there will be an even wider range of cases and number of cases.

10            If elected, Ambassador Lee will enhance the diversity of perspectives and representation on the bench, including that of small States and Southeast Asia. Small states are under-represented on the ICJ. Out of 117 permanent judges, only 20 have hailed from small states. There has neither been a female Judge of the ICJ from Southeast Asia nor from an island state. The ICJ has had only seven women as Judges, five of whom are currently serving on the bench. The last Southeast Asian member of the bench, Judge César Bengzon of the Philippines, was elected more than five decades ago.

11            The Government of Singapore fully supports Ambassador Lee’s candidature. We believe that she will serve the Court and the international community in an independent, thoughtful, and principled manner with the same dedication that she has approached public service for Singapore in the past thirty years.

12            I would like to express our sincere appreciation to all of you for your consideration of our ICJ candidate. I want to thank the many of you who in fact have already expressed support. For those of you who have not yet been able to, rest assured that we are coming to you to seek your support in all humility, and we believe we have got a good case and a good candidate.

13            On that note, I invite Ambassador Lee to say some words.