Justice Julia Sebutinde has been elected as the first African woman Vice President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The 69-year-old jurist has been serving on the court since 2012.

Speaking exclusively to New Vision Sebutinde sounded overjoyed by the support from partner states at the court in The Hague.

"The election is a resounding vote of confidence from my colleagues at the Court! An unsurprising vindication," Sebutinde said through a WhatsApp message after the vote was concluded and announced publically.

Sebutinde who will serve for a term of three years in the role, is also the first African woman to sit at the ICJ.

Sebutinde has been controversial over the years and the latest is her dissenting judgement at the ICJ where the South African government was seeking redress to the matter of conflict between Israel and the Palestinian situation in Gaza.

During her controversial ruling, Sebutinde stated how matters between Israel and Palestine are political and could not be addressed by the court.

“In my respectful dissenting opinion the dispute between the State of Israel and the people of Palestine is essentially and historically a political one,” Sebutinde partly said in her ruling.

“It is not a legal dispute susceptible to judicial settlement by the Court,” she added.

In response, the Ambassador of Uganda to the United Nations, Adonia Ayebare, stated the government's stand on the situation in Gaza and publically distanced the government from the ruling.

“Justice Sebutinde's ruling at the International Court of Justice does not represent the Government of Uganda’s position on the situation in Palestine,” he said in a statement on his official X (formerly Twitter)  social media handle.

Before being elected at the ICJ, Sebutinde was a Judge at the special court of Sierra Leone after being appointed in 2007.

At the time, Sebutinde was responsible for hearing the case of Liberian strong man, Charles Taylor after being appointed Presiding Judge in courtroom II.

During the proceedings, the court found Taylor guilty of eleven counts which include crimes against humanity, war crimes, murder, terrorism, rape and the use of child soldiers. The court determined a prison sentence of 50 years for Taylor.

In February 2011, London Barrister Courtenay Griffiths who represented Taylor walked out when the Judges refused to accept a written summary of his client's defence.

Sebutinde then refused to participate in the hearing of the disciplinary case of Griffiths following the incident.

The decision was made after Sebutinde from her earlier dissent asked Griffiths to either apologise or face disciplinary action.

She is married to John Bagunya Sebutinde and has two daughters.

During her primary school days, she attended the Lake Victoria Primary School in Entebbe in the 1960s then went on to join Gayaza High School and then to Kings College Buddo before joining Makerere University to pursue her law degree in 1977.

Sebutinde then continued to obtain her diploma in legal practice at the Law Development Centre in 1978.

She then went on to pursue her academic dreams for a master of laws at the University of Edinburgh, later graduating in 1991.

In 2009, in recognition of her body of work and contribution to International justice, Sebutinde was awarded an honorary doctor of laws by the University of Edinburgh.