Judge Hisashi Owada

Former President
International Court of Justice

Name: Hisashi Owada

Birthday: 18 September 1932 (age 86)
Educational Background:
B.A., University of Tokyo, 1955
Law, Trinity College, Cambridge, 1959
PhD, Trinity College, Cambridge
Honorary degrees from:

 Keiwa College
 Banaras Hindu University
 Waseda University
Professional Career:
Diplomatic Career:
1955 -passed the civil service examinations to join the Diplomatic and Consular service,
now known as the Foreign Service
1963 to 1969 - Moscow
1969 to 1971 - United Nations in New York, New York
1976 to 1978 - Private Secretary to Takeo Fukuda, the Prime Minister of Japan.
1979 to 1981 - Minister at the Embassy in Washington, concurrent with tenure as as
visiting professor at Harvard
- Back to Moscow
1988 to 1989 - Ambassador to the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and
Development (OECD) in Paris
1989 – 1990 - Deputy Minister, MOFA
1991 to 1993 - Vice-Minister, MOFA
 1994 to 1998 - Ambassador to the United Nations, where he served twice as United
Nations Security Council President
1999 to 2000 - Senior Adviser to the President of the World Bank
Until 2003 - President of the Japan Institute of International Affairs and adviser to the
Japanese Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Teaching Career
He served as Professor for 30 years in the following universities, specializing in international
treaty law:

 University of Tokyo,
 Harvard Law School,
 New York University Law School,
 Columbia Law School,
 The Hague Academy of International Law,
 Waseda University,
 University of Cambridge
He also served as the Bright International Jurist-in-Residence at the University of
Hawaii's William S. Richardson School of Law

ICJ Justice

 6 February 2003 – 7 June 2018 – Judge, International Court of Justice

 2009 – 2012 – President, International Court of Justice
Lectures

 Human Security and International Law in the Lecture Series of the United Nations
Audiovisual Library of International Law
 Asia and International Law: A New Era Distinguished Speakers Panel in the Lecture
Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
 The Encounter of Japan with the Community of Civilized Nations in the Lecture Series of
the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law
Notable ICJ cases

 Sovereignty over Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh, Middle Rocks and South Ledge
(Malaysia v. Singapore)
 Pulp Mills on the River Uruguay (Argentina v. Uruguay)
 Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide
(Bosnia and Herzegovina v. Serbia and Montenegro)
 Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy)