Judge Joseph Akl
(Member of the Tribunal since 1 October 1996; re-elected as from 1 October 1999 and 1 October 2008; President of the Seabed Disputes Chamber 1997–1999; Vice-President of the Tribunal 2005–2008)

Education: Licence (degree) in public law, Faculty of Law, Saint Joseph University, Beirut (1961); Advanced Studies Diploma for Ph.D. in public law, Faculty of Law, University of Paris (1962).

Professional Experience: Teacher, Ministry of Education (1956–1963); Assistant Professor of Public Law, Faculty of Law, Saint Joseph University, Beirut (1963–1972 and 1978–1982); Head of Section, Department of Administrative and Consular Affairs, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1963–1966); Assistant Director, Department of International Organizations, Conferences and Treaties (1966–1972); First Counsellor, Lebanese Embassy, Washington, D.C. (1972–1978); Legal Adviser and Director of Research and Documentation Center, Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1978–1983 and 1994–1996); Ambassador to the German Democratic Republic (1983–1990); Ambassador to Colombia (1991–1994).

Member: Lebanese delegation to: several sessions of the UN General Assembly; second session of the UN Conference on Trade and Development, New Delhi (1968); Ministerial Meeting of the Group of 77, Lima (1971); UN Conference on Environment, Stockholm (1972); various sessions of the Council of the League of Arab States; Twelfth Summit of Kings and Heads of Arab States, Fez (1982); Conference of Ministers of Foreign Affairs, Organisation of the Islamic Conference, Niamey (1982); Non-aligned Summit, Cartagena (1995); Member of the International Law Commission of the League of Arab States (1979–1985, President 1983); Head of the Lebanese delegation to: Diplomatic Conference on the Suppression of Unlawful Acts against the Safety of Civil Aviation, Montreal (1973); twentieth session of the Legal Committee, ICAO (1973); Diplomatic Conference on Succession of States in respect of Treaties, Vienna (1978); Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea (1979–1982), Association Libanaise de Sciences Politiques, founder member of the Association internationale du droit de la mer, first Vice-President of the Council of the Association (2001); American Society of International Law; Société française pour le droit international.

Publications: Author of numerous articles and reports on international public law, law of the sea and the jurisprudence of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.