India’s Bimal Patel elected to UN’s International Law Commission

Professor Bimal Patel from India has been elected to the International Law Commission for a 5-year-term starting January 1, 2023, by topping the Asia-Pacific group for the election at the United Nations on November 12, 2021. Patel is a Vice-Chancellor at Rashtriya Raksha University and a Member of the National Security Advisory Board of India. Patel topped the Asia-Pacific group with 163 votes in the UN General Assembly out of 192 members present and voting.

India’s Bimal Patel elected to International Law Commission during election at the United Nations

Professor Bimal Patel from India topped the Asia-Pacific group with 163 votes in the UN General Assembly out of 192 members present and voting during the election to International Law Commission.

The Asia-Pacific group saw 11 very strong candidates contesting for 8 seats. The 11 candidates by nationality included candidates from India, Japan, China, the Republic of Korea, Thailand, Cyprus, Vietnam, Sri Lanka, Philippines, Mongolia, and Lebanon.

India topped the Asia-Pacific group with 163 votes on the account of Bimal Patel, followed by 162 votes for Thailand, 154 votes for Japan, 145 votes for Vietnam, 142 votes for China, 140 votes for South Korea, 139 votes for Cyprus, and 123 votes for Mongolia.

The term of office of the present 34-members of the International Law Commission will expire at the end of 2022. The election of the members of the Commission for a five-year term beginning on 1 January 2023 took place at the 76^th session of the UN General Assembly on 12 November 2021.

Who is Bimal Patel?

Professor Bimal Patel from India has been elected to the International Law Commission for a 5-year-term starting January 1, 2023, by topping the Asia-Pacific group for the election at the United Nations.

Patel is a Vice-Chancellor at Rashtriya Raksha University and a Member of the National Security Advisory Board of India. Patel is an esteemed educationalist, administrator, and jurist. During his career over three decades, Parel has worked in several roles such as a member of the 21^st Law Commission of India and the Director at the Gujarat National Law University.

Patel has worked for 15 years across different global organizations such as the United Nations of Youth and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) at the Hague, Netherlands.

International Law Commission: Key Facts and Election

The UN General Assembly established the International Law Commission in 1947 to undertake the mandate of the Assembly to ‘initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification’.

The 34-members of the International Law Commission are elected every five years by the UN General Assembly from a list of candidates nominated by the Governments of States Members of the United Nations based on their expertise and qualifications in international.

The allocation of seats on the Commission for the five-year term beginning on 1 January 2023 will be as follows:

•9 nationals from the African States,

•8 nationals from the Asia-Pacific States,

•3 nationals from the Eastern European States,

•6 nationals from Latin American and the Caribbean States,

•8 nationals from Western European and other States.