On February 19, 1987, the International Court of Justice elected Eduardo Valencia-Ospina to the post of Registrar to succeed Santiago Torres Bernárdez, who had resigned for personal reasons several months before the expiry of his term of office. Mr. Valencia-Ospina had served as Deputy-Registrar since April 1984. He had previously served in the Office of Legal Affairs of the UN Secretariat. In accordance with Article 22 of the Rules of Court, he was elected for a term of 7 years.