The Tribunal

Judge Roman A. Kolodkin

Member of the Tribunal since 1 October 2017 

Born: St. Petersburg (Russian Federation) [Leningrad (Union of Soviet Socialist Republics)], 29 July 1960.

Education: Degree in international law (with honors), Moscow State University (1982);  postgraduate studies, Moscow State University (1982-1985); Ph.D. candidate (international law), Department of International Law, Faculty of Law, Moscow State University (1986).

Public Office: Legal Officer, Division of International Organizations and Division of External Economic Relations, External Relations Department, Ministry of Merchant Marine, USSR (1986-1990); Legal expert, Soviet delegation at INMARSAT Assembly and Council sessions (1989-1990); Legal Officer, Committee on Inter-Republic Relations, Supreme Soviet (Parliament) of Russia (1990-1991). Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Russian Federation (1991-2017): Assistant to and Head of Staff of the First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs (1991-1992); Head of Division, Legal Department (1992-1994); Deputy Director, Legal Department (1994-1997); Deputy permanent representative to the UN Office and other international organizations in Geneva (1997-2001); Director, Legal Department, Member of the Board (2001-2009, 2015-2017); Ambassador to the Netherlands, Permanent Representative to the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (2009-2015). Legal expert, Russian delegations to intergovernmental and expert meetings within the Commonwealth of Independent States (1991-1997); Member, Russian delegation to the Sixth Committee of the UN General Assembly and the Special Committee on the Charter 1994 (1994-1997); Deputy Head, Russian delegation to the General Assembly Ad Hoc Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court (1995); Deputy Head of the Russian delegation to the Preparatory Committee on the Establishment of an International Criminal Court (1996); Representative, Deputy Representative of  Russia to intergovernmental and expert meetings within the framework of the UN Office at Geneva, the Economic Commission for Europe, the Commission on Human Rights, ILO, WHO, WMO, WIPO, meetings organized by ICRC and Switzerland, as the depositary of the 1949 Geneva Conventions (1997-2001); Head, Russian delegation to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting (2002); Representative of Russia to the Sixth Committee of the UN General Assembly (2002-2009, 2015-2016); Alternate Representative of Russia to the regular sessions of the UN General Assembly (2002-2009, 2016); Representative of Russia to the Committee of Legal Advisors on Public International Law, Council of Europe (2002-2009, 2016-2017); Deputy Representative of Russia at the meeting of the Caspian States on the legal status of the Caspian Sea (2003-2004); Head, Russian delegation to the UN General Assembly Ad Hoc Committee on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property (2003-2004); Legal adviser, Russian delegation at negotiations with Ukraine on the bilateral Treaty on the State Border (2003-2004); Head, Russian delegation at negotiations with Norway on maritime delimitation in the Barents Sea and the Arctic Ocean (2003-2010); Representative of Russia, Consultative Committee of the Heads of the Legal Departments of the Ministries of Foreign Affairs of States Members of the Commonwealth of Independent States (2004-2009, 2016-2017); Agent of Russia (with K. Gevorgian), Application of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Georgia v. Russian Federation), International Court of Justice (2008-2011); Legal adviser, Russian delegation at negotiations with the USA on the elimination of Syrian chemical weapons (2013); Agent of Russia (with V. Titushkin), UNCLOS Annex VII arbitral proceedings initiated by Ukraine (2016-2017); Agent of Russia (with I. Rogachev and G. Lukiyantsev), Application of the International Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination (Ukraine v. Russian Federation), International Court of Justice (2017).

Academic Experience: Visiting Professor, Department of International Law, Faculty of Law, Moscow State Academy of Law (1990-1991); Visiting Professor, Department of International Law, Faculty of Law, Moscow State University (1991); Professor, Department of International Law, Faculty of International Law, Moscow State Institute of International Relations (University) (2002-2009); Visiting Professor, Moscow State University, Diplomatic Academy of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Russia, Moscow State Academy of Law (2002-2009); Advisor on public international law, International and comparative law research center (ICLRC), Moscow, Russia (2017-present).

Member: Russian Association of International Law (1982-present); International Law Commission (2003-2011, 2015-2018, Chairman, Drafting Committee 2006, Special Rapporteur 2007-2011, First Vice-Chairman 2008, Second Vice-Chairman 2005); Member, Institute of International Law (2009-present); Member, Permanent Court of Arbitration (2015-present); Advisory Board, Summer School on public international law organized by ICLRC (2018-present); Board of Trustees, “International Law in the XXI Century” annual Award organized by ICLRC (2015-present).

Publications: “Critical Comments on the ‘Soft Law’ Concept” (in Russian), The Soviet State and Law, No. 12, 1985; “An Ad Hoc Tribunal for the Prosecution of Serious Violations of International Humanitarian Law in the Former Yugoslavia”, Criminal Law Forum (Rutgers University School of Law, USA), vol. 5, Nos. 2-3, 1994; “Discussion of the Draft Statute for an International Criminal Court in the United Nations General Assembly Ad Hoc Committee” (in Russian), R.A. Kolodkin, I.A. Panin, Moscow Journal of International Law, No. 4, 1996;  “Fragmentation of International Law? A View from Russia”, in: Towards World Constitutionalism. Issues in the Legal Ordering of the World Community, R. St. John McDonald and D.M. Johnston (eds), Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Leiden, Boston, 2005; “Immunity of State Officials from Foreign Criminal Jurisdiction” (in Russian), International Lawyer, No. 3, Moscow, 2005; “Treaty with Norway: Delimitation for Cooperation” (in Russian), Mezhdunarodnaya Zhizn, No. 1, Moscow, 2011; International Law of the Sea. Essays in Memory of Anatoly L. Kolodkin, compiled by R.A. Kolodkin and S.M. Punzhin, Statut, Moscow, 2014; “Essay on Emergence and Development of International Law. Russia and International Law”; “Diplomatic Protection” (in Russian), in: International Law, Manual, B.R. Tuzmukhamedov (ed.), 4th ed., NORMA INFRA-M, Moscow, 2014; “Immunity of State and of Officials Thereof in Judgments of the International Court of Justice”, in: The Best in the West: Educator, Jurist, Arbitrator. Liber Amicorum in Honour of Professor William Butler, N.Iu. Erpyleva and M.E. Gashi-Butler (eds), Wildy, Simmonds & Hill, 2014; “Continental Shelf Beyond 200 Miles: Delineation and Delimitation” (in Russian), with S.M. Punzhin, International Justice, Nos. 3, 4, 2015; Evidence Before International Courts and Tribunals: Symposium (November 9, 2018) and Round-Table (May 15, 2019) proceedings / Edited by R.  Kolodkin, E.  Bulatov, E.  Fedorov.  — Moscow, Kvant Media, 2020; Normative propositions of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (in Russian) in: International Justice, No. 3, 2021; International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea: contentious jurisdiction, some recent developments, in: Actual problems of theory and practice of the law of the sea, I Maritime Law Forum, Vladivostok, April 22–23, 2021, A.N. Vylegzhanin and V.V.Gavrilov (eds), 2021; National Jurisdiction and UNCLOS, Courses of the Summer School on Public International Law (delivered in 2020, in Russian), VOL. 15, Moscow 2022 (https://iclrc.ru/storage/publication_pdf/45/SSPIL-2020_15_Roman-Kolodkin_1663579594.pdf).