Bimal Patel takes oath as judge at International Tribunal for Sea Law

India’s Bimal Patel has been sworn in as a judge on the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) for a nine-year term. He succeeds Neeru Chadha, who previously served as the tribunal's vice president, sustaining India's representation.

Bimal Patel takes the oath of office as a judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg. (Photo: X/@IndiaUNNewYork)

India’s Bimal Patel Takes Office at ITLOS

India’s Bimal Patel has officially assumed office as a judge on the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, known as ITLOS. Patel administered his oath on Thursday at the tribunal's headquarters in Hamburg, marking the commencement of a nine-year mandate on the premier judicial institution dedicated to maritime law while sustaining India's representation within the body.

Neeru Chadha, who previously served as a vice president of the tribunal, concluded her tenure on Wednesday. A distinguished international jurist, Patel previously served on the United Nations International Law Commission and held the position of vice chancellor at Rashtriya Raksha University in Gujarat when member states party to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea elected him to the tribunal last year.

Election and Tribunal Composition

Patel secured 115 ballots out of 168 valid votes during the election proceedings conducted at the United Nations headquarters in New York. A total of 172 nations have formally acceded to UNCLOS, the foundational treaty that established ITLOS to adjudicate maritime and oceanic controversies alongside interpreting the law of the sea. The tribunal comprises 21 jurists representing a balanced global geographical spread, operating under staggered terms.

New Judges Join the Bench

Alongside Patel, four additional jurists were elected to the bench last year. The accompanying judges sworn in alongside him include Sylvia Ama Adusu representing Ghana, George Rodrigo Bandeira Galindo from Brazil, Slim Laghmani of Tunisia, and Lan-Anh Thi Nguyen hailing from Viet Nam.

Patel holds doctoral degrees in International Law obtained from Leiden University in the Netherlands and Jaipur National University. His extensive professional background features past service as a member of the National Security Advisory Board operating under the National Security Council Secretariat.

ITLOS functions as an autonomous judicial institution headquartered in Hamburg, Germany, tasked with resolving maritime disputes and interpreting the provisions enshrined within the 1982 United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea.

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