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DISPUTE SETTLEMENT: biography
Appellate Body Members

The Appellate Body is composed of seven Members who are appointed by the Dispute Settlement Body (DSB). Each Member of the Appellate Body is required to be a person of recognized authority, with demonstrated expertise in law, international trade and the subject-matter of the covered agreements generally. They are also required to be unaffiliated with any government and are to be broadly representative of the Membership of the WTO. 

Disclaimer
The pages on this web site regarding the Appellate Body and the Appellate Body Secretariat are intended solely for information. These pages do not constitute an authoritative interpretation of the WTO Agreements, including the Understanding on Rules and Procedures Governing the Settlement of Disputes, or the Working Procedures for Appellate Review.
 

Biographical notes back to top
Current Appellate Body Members

Lilia R Bautista (Philippines) (2007 - 2011)

Born in the Philippines on 16 August 1935, Ms Lilia R Bautista is currently Consultant to the Philippine Judicial Academy which is the training school for Philippine justices, judges and lawyers. She is also a member of several corporate boards.

Ms Bautista was the Chairperson of the Securities and Exchange Commission of the Philippines from 2000 to 2004. Between 1999 and 2000, she served as Senior Undersecretary and Special Trade Negotiator at the Department of Trade and Industry in Manila. From December 1992 to June 1999, Ms Bautista was the Philippine Permanent Representative in Geneva to the United Nations, WTO, WHO, ILO and other international organizations. During her assignment in Geneva, she chaired several bodies, including the WTO Council for Trade in Services. Her long career in the Philippine Government also included posts as Legal Officer in the Office of the President, Chief Legal Officer of the Board of Investments, and acting Trade Minister from February to June 1992.

Ms Bautista earned her Bachelor of Laws Degree and a Masters Degree in Business Administration from the University of the Philippines. She was conferred the degree of Master of Laws by the University of Michigan as a Dewitt Fellow.

Jennifer Hillman (United States) (2007 – 2011) back to top

Born in the United States on 29 January 1957, Ms Jennifer Hillman serves as a Fellow and Adjunct Professor of Law at the Georgetown University Law Center's Institute of International Economic Law. Her work focuses on the WTO dispute settlement system, the WTO agreements related to trade remedies, and the WTO jurisprudence related to trade remedies.

From 1998 to 2007, Ms Hillman served as a member of the US International Trade Commission — an independent, quasi-judicial agency responsible for making determinations in anti-dumping and countervailing proceedings, and conducting safeguard investigations.

From 1995 to 1997, Ms Hillman served as the chief legal counsel to the USTR, overseeing the legal developments necessary to complete the implementation of the Uruguay Round Agreement.

From 1993 to 1995, Ms Hillman was responsible for negotiating all US bilateral textile agreements prior to the adoption of the Agreement on Textiles and Clothing.

Ms Hillman has a Bachelor of Arts and Master of Education from Duke University, North Carolina, and a Juris Doctor degree from Harvard Law School in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Shotaro Oshima (Japan) (2008 - 2012) back to top

Born in Japan on 20 September 1943, Mr Shotaro Oshima is a law graduate from the University of Tokyo, with almost 40 years experience as a diplomat in Japan's Foreign Service, most recently as Ambassador to the Republic of Korea.

From 2002 to 2005, Mr Oshima was Japan's Permanent Representative to the WTO, during which time he served as Chair of the General Council and the Dispute Settlement Body.

Prior to his time in Geneva, Mr Oshima served as Deputy Foreign Minister responsible for economic matters and was designated as Prime Minister Koizumi's Personal Representative to the G8 Summit in Canada in June 2002. In the same year he served as the Prime Minister's Personal Representative to the UN World Summit on Sustainable Development in South Africa.

From 1997 to 2000, Mr Oshima served as Director-General for Economic Affairs in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, responsible for formulating and implementing major policy initiatives in Japan's external economic relations.

Born in South Africa on 18 November 1958, David Unterhalter holds degrees from Trinity College, Cambridge, the University of the Witwatersrand, and University College Oxford. David Unterhalter has been a Professor of Law at the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa since 1998, and from 2000 – 2006, he was the Director of the Mandela Institute, University of the Witwatersrand, an institute focusing upon global law.

Mr. Unterhalter is a member of the Johannesburg Bar; as a practicing advocate he has appeared in a large number of cases in the fields of trade law, competition law, constitutional law, and commercial law. His experience includes representing different parties in anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases. He has acted as an advisor to the South African Department of Trade and Industry. In addition, he has served on a number of WTO dispute settlement panels.

Mr. Unterhalter has published widely in the fields of public law and competition law.

Peter Van den Bossche (Belgium) (2009-2013) back to top

Born in Belgium on 31 March 1959, Peter Van den Bossche is currently Professor of International Economic Law and Head of the Department of International and European Law at Maastricht University, the Netherlands. He also serves as the Academic Director of Maastricht University's Institute for Globalization and International Regulation and is on the faculty of the World Trade Institute in Berne, and the Institute of European Studies of Macau.

Mr. Van den Bossche has extensive experience in academia and has published extensively in the field of international economic law. The second edition of his textbook The Law and Policy of the World Trade Organization was published by Cambridge University Press in 2008. Mr. Van den Bossche is a Member of the Board of Editors of the Journal of International Economic Law. He has also acted as a consultant to many developing countries.

From 1997 to 2001, Mr. Van den Bossche was Counsellor and subsequently Acting Director of the WTO Appellate Body Secretariat. From 1990 to 1992, he served as a Référendaire of Advocate General W. van Gerven at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg.

Mr. Van den Bossche holds a Doctorate in Law from the European University Institute, Florence, an LL.M. from the University of Michigan Law School, and a Licentiaat in de Rechten magna cum laude from the University of Antwerp.
  

Yuejiao Zhang (China) (2008 - 2012) back to top

Born in China on 25 October 1944, Ms Yuejiao Zhang is Professor of Law at Shantou University in China. She is an Arbitrator on China's International Trade and Economic Arbitration Commission and practices law as a private attorney. Ms Zhang also serves as Vice President of China's International Economic Law Society.

Between 1998 and 2004, Ms Zhang held various positions at the Asian Development Bank. Prior to this, Ms Zhang held several positions in government and academia in China, including as Director-General of Law and Treaties at the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economic Cooperation (1984-1997) where she was involved in drafting many of China's trade laws such as the Foreign Trade Law, the Anti-Dumping Regulation and the Anti-Subsidy Regulation.

From 1987 to 1996, Ms Zhang was one of China's chief negotiators on intellectual property and was involved in the preparation of China's patent law, trade mark law, and copyright law. She also served as the chief legal counsel for China's GATT resumption and WTO accession. Between 1982 and 1985, Ms Zhang worked as legal counsel at the World Bank.

Ms Zhang was a Member of UNIDROIT from 1987-1999. She has a Bachelor of Arts from China High Education College and a Master of Laws from Georgetown University Law Center.

Former Appellate Body Members back to top

Georges Michel Abi-Saab  (Egypt) (2000 - 2008) back to top

Born in Egypt on 9 June 1933, Georges Michel Abi-Saab is Honorary Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva (having taught there from 1963 to 2000); Honorary Professor at Cairo University’s Faculty of Law; and a Member of the Institute of International Law.

Professor Abi-Saab served as consultant to the Secretary-General of the United Nations for the preparation of two reports on “Respect of Human Rights in Armed Conflicts” (1969 and 1970), and for the report on “Progressive Development of Principles and Norms of International Law Relating to the New International Economic Order” (1984). He represented Egypt in the Diplomatic Conference on the Reaffirmation and Development of International Humanitarian Law (1974 to 1977), and acted as Counsel and advocate for several governments in cases before the International Court of Justice (ICJ) as well as in international arbitrations. He has also served twice as judge ad hoc on the ICJ, as Judge on the Appeals Chamber of the International Criminal Tribunals for the Former Yugoslavia and for Rwanda, and as a Commissioner of the United Nations Compensation Commission. He is a Member of the Administrative Tribunal of the International Monetary Fund and of various international arbitral tribunals (ICSID, ICC, CRCICA, etc.).

Professor Abi-Saab graduated in law from Cairo University and pursued his studies in law, economics and politics at the Universities of Paris, Michigan (MA in Economics), Harvard Law School (LLM and SJD), Cambridge and Geneva (Docteur es Sciences Politiques). He also held numerous visiting professorships, inter alia, at Harvard Law School, the Universities of Tunis, Jordan, the West Indies (Trinidad), as well as the Rennert Distinguished Professorship at NYU School of Law and the Henri Rolin Chair in Belgian Universities.

Professor Abi-Saab is the author of numerous books and articles, including “Les exceptions préliminaires dans la procédure de la Cour internationale: Etude des notions fondamentales de procédure et des moyens de leur mise en oeuvre” (Paris, Pedone, 1967); “International Crises and the Role of Law: The United Nations Operation in Congo 1960-1964” (Oxford University Press, 1978); “The Concept of International Organization” (as editor) (Paris, UNESCO, 1981; French edition, 1980); and of two courses at the Hague Academy of International Law: “Wars of National Liberation in the Geneva Conventions and Protocols” (Recueil des cours, vol. 165 (1979-IV)) and the “General Course of Public International Law”(in French) (Recueil des cours, vol. 207 (1987-VII)).

James Bacchus (United States of America) (1995 - 2003) back to top

James Bacchus served on the Appellate Body for two terms, from 1995 to 2003. Born in 1949, Mr. Bacchus is a citizen of the United States of America. Mr. Bacchus currently practices law with the firm of Greenberg Traurig LLP. He is also a Professor of law at Vanderbilt University Law School.

Before his appointment to the Appellate Body, he served for two terms as a Member of the Congress of the United States, from Florida, from 1991 to 1995. Previously, he served as a Special Assistant to the United States Trade Representative in the Executive Office of the President of the United States from 1979 to 1981. In addition, he has a broad experience in the private practice of public and private international law.

Mr. Bacchus received a Bachelor of Arts degree from Vanderbilt University, magna cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa, with High Honors in History, in 1971. He received a Master of Arts degree from Yale University, where he was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow in History, in 1973. He graduated with High Honors from the Florida State University College of Law, where he was Editor-in-Chief of the FSU Law Review, in 1978. He has received honorary doctorates from Rollins College, Sierra Nevada College, and the University of Central Florida. He has taught and lectured extensively on international law and on international trade law in the United States and elsewhere.

Luiz Olavo Baptista (Brazil) (2001 - 2009) back to top

Born in Brazil in 1938, Luiz Olavo Baptista is currently Professor of International Trade Law at the University of São Paulo Law School.

He has been a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague since 1996, and of the International Chambre of Commerce (ICC) Institute for International Trade Practices and of its Commission on Trade and Investment Policy, since 1999. In addition, he has been one of the arbitrators designated under Mercosur's Protocol of Brasilia since 1993.

Professor Baptista is also senior partner at the L.O. Baptista Law Firm, in São Paulo, Brazil, where he concentrates his practice on corporate law, arbitration and international litigation. He has been practicing law for almost 40 years advising governments, international organizations and large corporations in Brazil and in other jurisdictions. Professor Baptista has been an arbitrator at the United Nations Compensation Commission (E4A Panel) in several private commercial disputes and State-investor proceedings, as well as in disputes under Mercosur's Protocol of Brasilia. In addition, he has participated as a legal advisor in diverse projects sponsored by the World Bank, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Center on Transnational Corporations (UNCTC), and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

He obtained his law degree from the Catholic University of São Paulo, pursued post-graduate studies at Columbia University Law School and The Hague Academy of International Law, and received a Ph.D in International Law from the University of Paris II. He was Visiting Professor at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) in 1978-1979, and at the University of Paris I and the University of Paris X between 1996 and 2000. Professor Baptista has published extensively on various issues in Brazil and abroad.
 

Christopher Beeby (New Zealand) (1995 - 2000) back to top

Christopher Beeby of New Zealand served on the Appellate Body from 1995 to 2000. Born in New Zealand in 1935, he was a career diplomat for more than 30 years, specializing in legal and economic affairs. He retired from government service in mid-1995.

Having gained his law degrees from Victoria University of Wellington and the London School of Economics, Mr. Beeby joined the Legal Division of the Department of Foreign Affairs in 1963, where he worked as the legal adviser to his Government's delegation that negotiated the New Zealand-Australia Free Trade Agreement. In 1969, he became Divisional Head. In 1976, he was appointed Head of the Economic Division and held that position until he was posted abroad as Ambassador to Iran and Pakistan, from 1978-1980. Upon returning to Wellington, he served first as Assistant Secretary and from 1985, as Deputy Secretary, supervising, among other things, the Legal and Economic Divisions. In 1992, he became New Zealand's Ambassador to France and Algeria, and Permanent Representative to the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD).

Throughout his long public career, Mr. Beeby obtained extensive expertise and experience in international law, dealing closely with trade, the GATT and the Uruguay Round instruments, and the construction and application of dispute settlement mechanisms in several different contexts.
Mr. Beeby passed away on 19 March 2000.

Claus-Dieter Ehlermann (Germany) (1995 - 2001) back to top

Claus-Dieter Ehlermann of Germany served on the Appellate Body from 1995 to 2001. He was born in 1931, and is an internationally-recognized authority on international economic law.

In 1961, Professor Ehlermann joined the Legal Service of the European Commission and rose to become its Head in 1977. He served as Director-General of the Legal Service for 10 years until 1987, when he was appointed spokesman for the Commission and Special Adviser to the President on institutional questions. From 1990 to 1995, he was Director-General of the Directorate-General for Competition, which brought him into close contact with competition authorities in the United States (within the framework of the bilateral US-EU Cooperation Agreement, negotiated in 1990-1991), and in Japan, Australia and New Zealand. He also assisted the fledgling competition authorities in the transition economies of Central and Eastern Europe.

Since 1972, Professor Ehlermann has also pursued an academic career, teaching Community Law in Bruges, Brussels, Hamburg, and in Florence. He has held the Chair of Economic Law at the European University Institute in Florence and is Honorary Professor at the University of Hamburg. He has written more than 200 publications which, since 1991, have dealt primarily with competition law and policy, industrial policy, and international cooperation. He also serves as a member on several academic advisory bodies, in particular with respect to law reviews.

Professor Ehlermann joined the Brussels office of Wilmer, Cutler and Pickering in 2002.
 

Said El-Naggar (Egypt) (1995 - 2000) back to top

Said El-Naggar of Egypt served on the Appellate Body from 1995 to 2000. Born in 1920, he was Professor Emeritus of Economics at Cairo University and combined his academic expertise with public service for more than 30 years.

After a teaching career at Cairo University, Dr. El-Naggar joined the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) in 1965 as Deputy Director of the Research Division, a post he held for six years until he was appointed Director of the United Nations Economic and Social Office in Beirut, Lebanon. From 1976 to 1984, he served as Executive Director of the World Bank representing the Arab Countries, before returning to Cairo University as Professor Emeritus. Since 1991, he also was President of the New Civic Forum, a non-government organisation dedicated to economic, political and social liberalization in Egypt.

Dr. El-Naggar graduated from the Faculty of Law at Cairo University in 1942 and completed graduate studies in economics at London University, where he obtained a Masters degree in 1948 and a doctorate in 1951. He also was a research fellow at the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor), and a Visiting Professor at Princeton University (New Jersey). He was the author of several books and papers on international trade and finance, economic development and the Egyptian economy.

Dr. El- Naggar passed away on 11 April 2004.

Florentino Feliciano (Philippines) (1995 - 2001) back to top

Justice Florentino Feliciano of the Philippines served on the Appellate Body from 1995 to 2001. Born in 1928, he served as Senior Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of the Philippines and Vice-Chairman of the Academic Council of the Institute of International Business Law and Practice of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris.

Before joining the Judiciary in 1986, Mr. Feliciano had been a Member of the law firm Sycip, Salazar, Feliciano and Hernandez since 1962, where he worked on trade and corporate law cases and transactions concerning anti-dumping, intellectual property rights, banking and insurance services, shipping and telecommunications. Mr. Feliciano has rejoined Sycip, Salazar, Hernandez and Gatmaitan, as Senior Counsel.

Justice Feliciano also has extensive experience with, and is currently involved in, international investment and commercial arbitrations at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington, at the International Chambre of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, and under the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). He is a Member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris. He has been on the Arbitrators Panel of the American Arbitration Association in New York and was also a Member of the Asian Development Bank Administrative Tribunal. He has recently been appointed to the World Bank Administrative Tribunal.

Having graduated in law from the University of the Philippines, Justice Feliciano went on to earn his Masters and Doctorate Degrees in law from Yale University. He taught in the Faculties of Law of the University of the Philippines and of Yale University. A Member of the Institut de Droit International, he has lectured at The Hague Academy of International Law and serves as a Member of the Curatorium of the Academy. He has written and published on various aspects of international business law and public international law.

Arumugamangalam Venkatachalam Ganesan (India) (2000 - 2008) back to top

Born in Tirunelveli, Tamil Nadu, India on 7 June 1935, Arumugamangalam Venkatachalam Ganesan was a distinguished civil servant of India. He was appointed to the Indian Administrative Service, a premier civil service of India in May 1959, and served in that service until June 1993. In a career spanning over 34 years, he has held a number of high level assignments, including Joint Secretary (Investment), Department of Economic Affairs, Government of India (1977-1980); Inter-Regional Adviser, United Nations Centre on Transnational Corporations (UNCTC), United Nations Headquarters, New York (1980-1985); Additional Secretary, Department of Industrial Development, Government of India (1986-1989); Chief Negotiator of India for the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations and Special Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Government of India (1989-1990); Civil Aviation Secretary of the Government of India (1990-1991); and Commerce Secretary of the Government of India (1991-1993). He represented India on numerous occasions in bilateral, regional and multilateral negotiations in the areas of international trade, investment and intellectual property rights. Between 1989 and 1993, he represented India at the various stages of the Uruguay Round of Multilateral Trade Negotiations.

After his retirement from civil service, Mr. Ganesan served as an expert and consultant to various agencies of the United Nations system, including the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD), the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), in the field of international trade, investment and intellectual property rights. He has also spoken extensively to the business, managerial, scientific and academic communities in India on the scope and substance of the Uruguay Round negotiations and Agreements and their implications. Until his appointment to the Appellate Body of the WTO in 2000, he was a Member of the Government of India’s High Level Trade Advisory Committee on Multilateral Trade Negotiations. He was also a Member of the Permanent Group of Experts under the WTO Agreement on Subsidies and Countervailing Measures, and a Member of a Dispute Settlement Panel of the WTO in 1999-2000 in the United States — Section 110(5) of the US Copyright Act case.

Mr. Ganesan has written numerous newspaper articles and monographs dealing with various aspects of the Uruguay Round Agreements and their implications. He is also the author of many papers on trade, investment and intellectual property issues for UNCTAD and UNIDO, and has contributed to books published in India on matters concerning the Uruguay Round, including intellectual property right issues.

Mr. Ganesan holds M.A and M.Sc degrees from the University of Madras, India.
 

Merit E. Janow (United States) (2003 – 2007) back to top

Born in the United States on 13 May 1958, Ms Merit E. Janow has been since 1994 Professor in the Practice of International Economic Law and International Affairs at the School of International and Public Affairs of Columbia University. She teaches advanced law courses in international trade and comparative antitrust law along with courses on international trade policy.

Before joining Columbia's faculty in 1994, Ms Janow was Deputy Assistant US Trade Representative for Japan and China (1990-93), and worked as a corporate lawyer specializing in mergers and acquisitions with the law firm Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom in New York (1988-90).

Ms Janow is the author of several books and has contributed chapters to more than a dozen books. She grew up in Tokyo, Japan, and speaks Japanese. Ms Janow served as a WTO panellist from September 2001 to May 2002 in the dispute European Communities — Trade Description of Sardines (WT/DS231).

John S. Lockhart * (Australia) (2001 - 2006) back to top

Born in Australia on 2 October 1935, John S. Lockhart was Executive Director at the Asian Development Bank in the Philippines (ADB) from July 1999 to 2002, working closely with developing member countries on the development of programmes directed to poverty alleviation through the promotion of economic growth. His other duties for the ADB included the development of law reform programmes and assisting in the provision of advice on legal questions, notably the interpretation of the ADB's Charter, international treaties and United Nations instruments.

Prior to joining the ADB, Mr. Lockhart served as Judicial Reform Specialist at the World Bank focusing on strengthening legal and judicial institutions and working closely with developing countries and economies in transition in their projects of judicial and legal reform.

After graduating in arts and law from the University of Sydney in 1958, Mr. Lockhart's professional experience has included Judge, Federal Court of Australia (1978-1999); President of the Australian Competition Tribunal (1982-1999); Deputy President of the Australian Copyright Tribunal (1981-1997); and Queen's Counsel, Australia and the United Kingdom Privy Council (1973-1978). He was appointed an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1994 for services to the law, education and the arts.

Mr. Lockhart untimely passed away on 13 January 2006. He served on the Appellate Body from 2001 to 2006.

Mitsuo Matsushita (Japan) (1995 - 2000) back to top

Mitsuo Matsushita of Japan served on the Appellate Body from 1995 to 2000. Born in 1933, he is Professor Emeritus at Tokyo University and counsel to Nagashima, Ohno & Tsunematsu, a leading international law firm in Tokyo.

Having gained a Ph.D. degree from Tulane University, USA, and a D.Jur degree from Tokyo University, Professor Matsushita went on to become widely acknowledged as one of the most authoritative Japanese scholars in the field of international economic law. In his academic career he has held Professorships at Sophia University and Tokyo University. He has been a Visiting Professor at Harvard University, Georgetown University, University of Michigan, Columbia University, and at the College of Europe in Bruges, Belgium. He has written many publications on various aspects of international trade and competition and investment law.

In his public career, Professor Matsushita has been attached to the Ministry of Finance and the Ministry of International Economics and Trade as a member of various councils dealing with telecommunications, customs and tariffs, export and import transactions, and industrial property. He serves as a Member of the Office of the Ombudsman of Trade and Investment, which is part of the Japanese government and deals with market access issues.

Julio Lacarte-Muró (Uruguay)(1995-2001) back to top

Julio Lacarte-Muró served on the Appellate Body from 1995 to 2001. Born in Uruguay in 1918, he was a career diplomat who has been involved with the GATT/WTO trading system since its creation more than 50 years ago and has participated in all eight rounds of Multilateral Trade Negotiations under the GATT.

Mr. Lacarte-Muró served as the Deputy Executive Secretary of the GATT in 1947-1948. He returned to the GATT as Uruguay's Permanent Representative in 1961-1966 and 1982-1992, during which periods he served as Chairman of the Council, the Contracting Parties, several dispute settlement panels, and the Uruguay Round Negotiating Groups on dispute settlement and institutional questions. Mr. Lacarte-Muró has also served as the Deputy Director of the International Trade and Balance-of-Payments Division of the United Nations and as the Director of Economic Cooperation among Developing Countries of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). He has also been Uruguay's Ambassador to several countries, including the European Communities, India, Japan, the United States and Thailand.

In his academic career, Mr. Lacarte-Muró has been Professor at the International Association of Comparative Law and at Strasbourg University. He has written several publications, including a recently published book covering all the subject-matter of the Uruguay Round from its inception to the Marrakesh Final Act.

Giorgio Sacerdoti (European Communities — Italy) (2001 - 2009) back to top

Born on 2 March 1943, Giorgio Sacerdoti is Professor of International Law and European Law at Bocconi University, Milan, Italy, since 1986.

Professor Sacerdoti has held various posts in the public sector including Vice-Chairman of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) Working Group on Bribery in International Business Transactions until 2001 where he was one of the drafters of the “Anticorruption Convention of 1997”. He has acted as consultant to the Council of Europe, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the World Bank in matters related to foreign investments, trade, bribery, development and good governance. In the private sector, he has often served as arbitrator in international commercial disputes and at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes.

Professor Sacerdoti has published extensively on international trade law, investments, international contracts and arbitration.

After graduating from the University of Milan with a law degree summa cum laude in 1965, Professor Sacerdoti gained a Master in Comparative Law from Columbia University Law School as a Fulbright Fellow in 1967. He was admitted to the Milan bar in 1969 and to the Supreme Court of Italy in 1979. He is a Member of the Committee on International Trade Law of the International Law Association.

Yasuhei Taniguchi (Japan) (2000 - 2007) back to top

Born in Japan on 26 December 1934, Yasuhei Taniguchi is currently Professor of law at Tokyo Keizai University, and Attorney at Law in Tokyo. He obtained a law degree from Kyoto University in 1957 and was fully qualified as a jurist in 1959. His graduate degrees include LL.M., University of California at Berkeley (1963) and J.S.D., Cornell University (1964). He taught at Kyoto University for 39 years and has been Professor Emeritus since 1998. He also has taught as Visiting Professor of Law in the United States (University of Michigan, University of California at Berkeley, Duke University, Stanford University, Georgetown University, Harvard University, New York University, and University of Richmond), in Australia (Murdoch University and University of Melbourne), at the University of Hong Kong and at the University of Paris XII.

Professor Taniguchi is former president of the Japanese Association of Civil Procedure and currently vice-president of the International Association of Procedural Law. He is affiliated with various academic societies and arbitral organizations as arbitrator, including the International Council for Commercial Arbitration; the International Law Association; the American Law Institute; the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association; the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators; the American Arbitration Association; the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre; the Chinese International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission; the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board; and the Cairo Regional Centre of Commercial Arbitration. He has also been an active arbitrator in the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Court of International Arbitration.

Professor Taniguchi has written numerous books and articles in the fields of civil procedure, arbitration, insolvency, the judicial system and legal profession, as well as comparative and international law related to these fields. His publications have been published in Japanese, Chinese, English, French, Italian, German, and Portuguese.

* Mr. Lockhart passed away on 13 January 2006. Press release.  back to text