On November 3^rd (New York time), the United Nations General Assembly voted to elect members of the International Law Commission. With 120 of 191 votes in favour, Vietnamese Ambassador to Kuwait Nguyen Hong Thao was chosen as one of the members of the commission, Vietnam News Agency reported.

Ambassador Nguyen Hong Thao when he worked in Malaysia (Photo: VNA)

Earlier, 10 candidates ran for the 7 seats of the Commission for the Asia – Pacific region. This was the first time Vietnam had a candidate running for commission member.

The commission is a very prestigious international legal forum and an agency specializing in drafting important conventions, including conventions on the law of the sea. In addition, the commission carries out studies on major issues of international law – law on the relations among nations.

The Commission, belonging to the United Nations, has 34 members elected by UN member countries every 5 years. Commission members are often famous professors, diplomats and lawyers who are experienced in studying, teaching and practising international laws. The members are distributed by geographic regions with no 2 members having the same nationality. The Asia – Pacific region is allowed to elect 7 members.

Established in 1947 by the UN General Assembly, the International Law Commission is responsible for studying and making proposals to promote the development and codification of international laws.

Ambassador Nguyen Hong Thao is an expert in international law who has a firm academic foundation and factual experience. He was Vice President of the National Border Committee, Head of negotiation delegation for border agreements with neighbouring countries, and a legal consultant for the draft law on the sea of Vietnam in 2012. He has worked in the diplomatic sector for 40 years, being the Vietnamese Ambassador to Malaysia between 2011 and 2014 and having been the Vietnamese Ambassador to Kuwait since 2014./.

( Compiled by VNF )