After ICJ defeat, Britain replaces UN Ambassador Matthew Rycroft

Britain today appointed Karen Pierce as its new Ambassador to the UN, replacing incumbent Matthew Rycroft under whom it suffered a humiliating defeat at the hands of India in the recent election to the International Court of Justice.

Pierce is the first woman appointed to this role, and is uniquely suited for the position having previously served as Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in New York, and more recently as the Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva, the UK Mission to the UN said in a statement.

Britain's Permanent Mission to the United Nations did not give any reason for appointing Pierce as new ambassador to the world body, which comes days after it failed to get its judge Christopher Greenwood elected to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) after India's Judge Dalveer Bhandari consistently received nearly two-third of the votes in the UN General Assembly.

Bhandari was on Tuesday re-elected to the ICJ as the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly threw its weight behind him, forcing Britain to withdraw its candidate from the hard- fought race to the world court.

This is for the first time in 70 years that Britain would have no judge in the 15-member panel of the ICJ.
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