International Court of Justice

President Hisashi Owada (Japan)Vice-President Peter Tomka (Slovakia)Judge Shi Jiuyong (China)Judge Abdul G. Koroma (Sierra Leone)Judge Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh (Jordan)Judge Thomas Buergenthal (United States of America)Judge Bruno Simma (Germany)Judge Ronny Abraham (France)Judge Kenneth Keith (New Zealand)Judge Bernardo Sepúlveda-Amor (Mexico)Judge Mohamed Bennouna (Morocco)Judge Leonid Skotnikov (Russian Federation)Judge Antônio Augusto Cançado Trindade (Brazil)Judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf (Somalia)Judge Christopher John Greenwood (United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland)Registrar Philippe Couvreur (Belgium)

President Hisashi Owada

(Member of the Court since 6 February 2003; President of the Court since 6 February 2009)

Born in Niigata, Japan, on 18 September 1932.

B.A., University of Tokyo (1955). LL.B., Cambridge University (1956). D. Phil. honoris causa, Keiwa University, Japan (2000). LL.D. honoris causa, Banaras Hindu University, India (2001). LL.D honoris causa, Waseda University, Japan (2004).

Entered the Foreign Service of Japan in 1955. Official, Legal Affairs Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1959-1963). First Secretary, Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations (1968-1971). Private Secretary to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan (1971-1972). Director, United Nations Political Affairs Division, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1972-1974); Director, Treaties Division (1974-1976), Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of Japan (1976-1978). Minister, Embassy of Japan in Washington (1979-1981). Minister, Embassy of Japan in Moscow (1981-1984). Director General, Treaties Bureau (Principal Legal Adviser), Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1984-1987). Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Japan to the OECD (1988-1989). Deputy Minister, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1989-1991). Vice-Minister for Foreign Affairs (1991-1993). Ambassador, Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations (1994-1998). Special Adviser to the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Japan (1999-2003).

Member of the Japanese Delegation to the Second United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1960). Alternate Representative of Japan to the United Nations Conference on the Law of Treaties (1968-1969). Head of the Japanese Delegation to the Committee on Peaceful Uses of the Sea Bed and Ocean Floor (1968-1972). Head of the Japanese Delegation to the Legal Sub-Committee of the United Nations Committee on Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (1968-1970). Head of the Japanese Delegation to the United Nations Special Committee on Friendly Relations (1968-1970); Chairman of the Drafting Committee of the Special Committee (1970). Rapporteur of the Sixth Committee of the United Nations General Assembly, Twenty-fifth Session (1970). Member of the Japanese Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, Twenty-third to Twenty-fifth Sessions (Sixth Committee) (1968-1970). Alternate Representative of Japan to the United Nations General Assembly, Twenty-seventh to Twenty-eighth Sessions (1972-1973). Alternate Representative of Japan to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea (1973-1982). Adviser to the Japanese Delegation to the United Nations General Assembly, Thirty-ninth to Forty-first (1984-1986) and Forty-fourth to Forty-fifth Sessions (1989-1990). Representative of Japan to the United Nations General Assembly, Forty-ninth to Fifty-third Sessions (1994-1998). Representative of Japan to the World Summit for Social Development in Copenhagen (1994). Representative of Japan to the Fourth World Conference on Women in Beijing (1995). Representative of Japan to the Assembly of Heads of State and Government, Organization of African Unity, 31st to 33rd Sessions (1995-1997). Representative of Japan to the General Assembly of the Organization of American States (1996). Representative of Japan to the United Nations Security Council (1997-1998), President of the Security Council (1997, 1998). Representative of Japan to the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (1997-1998). Representative of Japan to the Summit Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement (1998). Head of the Japanese Delegation to the United Nations Diplomatic Conference on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court (1998).

President of the Japan Institute of International Affairs (1999-2003). Senior Adviser to the President of the World Bank (1999-2000). Judge of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (since 2001).

Visiting Professor of International Law, Harvard Law School (1979-1981, 1987, 1989, 2000-2002). Adjunct Professor of International Law, University of Tokyo (1963-1965; 1971-1976; 1984-1988). Inge Rennert Distinguished Visiting Professor of International Law, New York University Law School (1994-1998). Adjunct Professor of International Law, Columbia Law School (1994-1998). Professor, the Hague Academy of International Law (1999). Professor of International Law, New York University Global Law School (since 1999). Professor of International Law, Waseda University Graduate School (2000-2003). Visiting Fellow Commoner of Trinity College, Cambridge University (2002). Academic Adviser, Hiroshima University (since 2002). Honorary Professor, Leiden University (since 2006).

Member, l’Institut de Droit international. Honorary Member, American Society of International Law (2006). Member emeritus, Japanese Society of International Law. Member, Executive Council of the International Law Association.

Honours: Humanitarian Studentship in International Law, Cambridge University (1958-1959). Al-Istiqlal Order, First Degree, Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan (1990). Officier, Légion d’honneur, France (1992). Grand Cross of the Order of Merit, Federal Republic of Germany (1994).

Author of numerous publications on international law and international organizations.