First-ever Vietnamese diplomat elected to International Law Commission

(VNF) - Vietnam’s Ambassador to Kuwait Nguyen Hong Thao has been elected to the United Nations’ International Law Commission (ILC) with 120 out of 191 votes by the UN General Assembly.

This is the first time a Vietnamese candidate has run for, and won, one out of the seven ILC seats allocated to the Asia-Pacific region.

Vietnamese Ambassador to Kuwait Nguyen Hong Thao has been elected to the United Nations’ International Law Commission (ILC). (Source: Internet)

Ambassador Nguyen Hong Thao is an expert in international law. He used to be deputy head of the National Border Committee, head of the negotiation team on border agreements with neighbouring countries, and a legal advisor to the drafting process of Vietnam’s 2012 Law of the Sea. He has spent 40 years working in diplomacy. He also was Vietnam’s Ambassador to Malaysia in the 2011-2014 tenure and is now Ambassador to Kuwait.

The nomination of Ambassador Thao to run for seat in the ILC demonstrates Vietnam’s wish to make contribution to the development of international law and its codification, as well as promote the country’s integration policy.

Ambassador Thao’s electioneering kicked off in February 2016 after the Vietnamese delegation to the UN, the World Trade Organisation and other Geneva-based international organisations sent a diplomatic note introducing him to other countries’ delegations.

The International Law Commission comprises 34 members elected every five years and working independently from the countries that nominate them. The committee undertakes the mandate of the Assembly, under article 13 (1) (a) of the Charter of the United Nations to "initiate studies and make recommendations for the purpose of ... encouraging the progressive development of international law and its codification".

The current Asian-Pacific members of the ILC are from China, Japan, the Republic of Korea, India, Thailand and Indonesia./.

( Compiled by VNF )