Friday, February 1, 2008

ITLOS: Election of Zhiguo Gao

On Wednesday, at a Special Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, Zhiguo Gao (China) was elected a judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, filling the vacancy created by the resignation of Judge Guangjian Xu (China) on August 15, 2007. In accordance with Article 6 of the Statute of the Tribunal, Judge Gao will hold office for the remainder of his predecessor's nine-year term, which expires on September 30, 2011. Judge Gao was the only candidate nominated and obtained 136 votes out of 137 ballots cast, with one abstention. Prior to his election, Judge Gao was Executive Director of the China Institute for Marine Affairs. A full bio is available here.