United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) on Wednesday elected four judges to serve half-time terms of office on the United Nations Dispute Tribunal (UNDT).

UNGA elected by secret ballot Francis Belle (Barbados), Rachel Sikwese (Malawi), Eleanor Donaldson-Honeywell (Trinidad and Tobago) and Margaret Tibulya (Uganda) to serve half-time terms of office on the UNDT, each for seven years beginning immediately.

Half-time judges on the dispute tribunal are deployed up to a cumulative period of six months per year, as decided by the UNGA president based on the caseload and any judicial absences affecting the work of the tribunal, according to a press note released after the election.

To be eligible for appointment as a judge to the dispute tribunal, candidates must be of high moral character and impartial; possess at least 10 years of judicial experience in the field of administrative law or the equivalent within one or more national jurisdictions; and be fluent, both orally and in writing, in English or French, says the press note.

The UNDT, as the "first instance tribunal" of the UN's internal justice system, is the tribunal UN system staff members apply to when they decide to challenge an administrative decision made by an entity over which the UNDT has jurisdiction.