Jurist Bimal Patel Sworn-In As Judge Of International Tribunal For The Law Of Sea
Indian jurist and former Director of Gujarat National Law University Dr Bimal N Patel on Thursday (October 1) was sworn-in as a Judge of the International Tribunal For The Law Of The Sea at Hamburg for a nine year term starting from 2026 until 2035.
Apart from Judge Patel, four others judges were sworn in as members of the Tribunal at a public sitting held earlier today.
Ms Sylvia Ama Adusu (Ghana), Mr George Rodrigo Bandeira Galindo (Brazil), Mr Slim Laghmani (Tunisia), Ms Lan-Anh Thi Nguyen (Viet Nam) and Mr Bimal N. Patel (India) were elected at the thirty-sixth Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea to serve a term of nine years, commencing on October 1.
Born in Khadol, Gujarat in 1970, Judge Patel secured a PhD in in International Law from Leiden University. Prior to that he secured an MA degree in International Relations from University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands in 1995. He completed his post-graduate studies in International Law and Relations, The Hague, Oslo, Heidelberg and his Bachelors in Science from Anand Agriculture University in 1991.
Judge Patel was the Director / Vice-Chancellor and Professor of Public International Law, Gujarat National Law University from 2008 to 2019. At GNLU he taught courses and supervises thesis and seminar papers in Public International Law, Peaceful Settlement of International Disputes and Law of the Sea and Maritime Law at undergraduate and post-graduate level.
He was also a Visiting Professor, University of Barcelona, Spain and a Faculty member at Hague University, The Netherlands.
Judge Patel has worked at the Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, The Hague, The Netherlands from 1995 to 2008. He was also the Lead Academic Adviser during India's tenure as UN Security Council member between 2021 to 2022).
He is also a member of the Group of Experts, International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea – San Remo Manual (2024-present).
He has authored and edited numerous books and research papers on classic, contemporary and emerging areas of international law, law of the sea, international dispute settlement.