Updated 12.05pm, adds PN statement

Law professor David Attard has been reelected as judge at the international tribunal of the Convention on the Law of the Sea after obtaining the highest number of votes.

This was announced by Foreign Minister Evarist Bartolo on Facebook on Tuesday.

All 160 member states of the convention voted for Attard, who is considered to be one of the world's foremost experts concerning international maritime law. 

The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea defines the rights and responsibilities of nations in using the world's oceans and seas. Its international tribunal is one of its dispute mechanisms and is made up of 21 judges from across the globe. 

Attard's work has focused on the UN Convention for the past 35 years and has been serving on the tribunal for nine years, the last three as its deputy president.

The Oxford-educated Attard has taught at Yale, Oxford, Sorbonne as well as Rome, Beijing and Malta. He serves as director of the IMO International Maritime Law Institute, which is based at the University of Malta. 

He is a member of Malta's National Order of Merit and has been similarly recognised by the French and Italian governments.

The Nationalist Party also congratuled Attard, saying his name was synonymous with international maritime law across the globe.

His re-appointment, it said, boosted both his career as well as Malta's international profile.

 

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.