In 2018, Nawaf Salam joined the International Court, which consists of 15 judges (International Court of Justice).
A Lebanese judge, diplomat, and academic, born in 1953. He served as Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations for 10 years, and represented his country in the Security Council. In 2018, he was elected as a judge at the International Court of Justice, and on February 6, 2024, he was elected president of this court for 3 years following the end of the term of American Judge Joan E. Donoghue. He became the second Arab to hold this position after former Algerian Foreign Minister Mohamed Bedjaoui.
The International Court of Justice is the main judicial body of the United Nations. It began its activities in April 1946. In accordance with the provisions of international law, it is responsible for adjudicating legal disputes that arise between countries and providing advisory opinions on legal issues that may be referred to it by the United Nations organs and its specialized agencies.
Nawaf Salam delivers a speech before the United Nations General Assembly in 2015 when he was representing Lebanon (Associated Press)
Birth and upbringing
Nawaf Salam was born on December 15, 1953 in the Lebanese capital, Beirut. He comes from a well-known political family. His father, Abdullah Salam, is one of the founders of Middle East Airlines, the Lebanese national airline, and represented the family on its board of directors between 1956 and 1983.
His paternal grandfather is Salim Ali Salam, who was mayor of Beirut and a deputy in the Ottoman Council of “Envoys” in Istanbul, and one of the founders of the “Reform Movement in Beirut” against Turkish policy in the East. He was also a member of the Great Arab Government founded by King Faisal bin Hussein and director For its office in Beirut.
His uncle is Saeb Salam, who is known for his struggle against French colonialism. He headed the Lebanese government 4 times between 1952 and 1973, and his cousin Tammam Salam headed the government in the period 2014 and 2016.
Nawaf Salam is married to Sahar Baasiri, a journalist and Lebanese ambassador to UNESCO, and he has two sons, Abdullah and Marwan.
Study and training
He began his academic career by obtaining a diploma from the École des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales in Paris in 1974, then a doctorate in history from the Sorbonne University in Paris in 1979.
He then obtained a Bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Beirut in 1984, a master’s degree in law from Harvard Law School in 1991, and a doctorate in political sciences from the Institute of Political Studies in Paris in 1992.
Nawaf Salam is known for his struggle in support of the Palestinian cause since he was a student at the (European) University.
Professional experience
Nawaf began his professional career in the field of law in 1984 as an appellate lawyer, a member of the Beirut Bar Association, and a consultant and representative of many international, local, public and private bodies in Beirut in two periods (1984-1989) and (1992-2007). He also worked in the American city of Boston as a legal representative for a number of international institutions. In the period between (1989-1992).
Before that, he had embarked on a career path in the academic field, working as a lecturer at the Sorbonne University from 1979 to 1981, where he studied the contemporary history of the Middle East. In 1981, he was a visiting fellow at the Weatherhead Center for International Affairs at Harvard University, and between 1985 and 1989. He worked as a lecturer at the American University of Beirut.
After returning to Beirut in 1992, he worked as a lawyer at Takla Law Firm, and in parallel with his law practice, he began teaching international law and international relations at the American University of Beirut and headed the Department of Political Studies and Public Administration at the same university in the period 2005-2007.
He worked as a lecturer at several universities, including Harvard Law School, the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University, the International Peace Institute in New York, Yale Law School, the German University of Freiburg, and Boston University, and at Arab universities in Rabat, Cairo, and Abu Dhabi.
Tasks and jobs in Lebanon
He was elected a member of the Executive Office of the Economic and Social Council in Lebanon between 1999 and 2002. The mission of this council was to provide advice, suggestions and recommendations in projects of an economic and social nature that it received from the government.
In 2005, the Lebanese Council of Ministers appointed him as a member and rapporteur in the National Commission for Election Law Reform, where he contributed to the preparation of a draft of a new electoral law after Syria ended its military presence in Lebanon.
Nawaf Salam in 2011 when he was President of the United Nations Security Council (French)
This body - which was known as the Boutros Committee after its head, the late Minister Fouad Boutros - presented a proposed law in 2006 that included many reforms, the most prominent of which was the adoption of a mixed electoral system that elects 77 representatives according to the majority system and 51 according to the proportional system.
His name was circulated in the political arena in 2020 to head the Lebanese government after the Beirut port explosion disaster, as a neutral and technocratic candidate, and in view of his extensive diplomatic, legal and international record, but Hezbollah and the Amal Movement objected to his naming, and considered him “the candidate of the United States of America and France.”
The Palestinian cause
In an interview with the BBC in 2020, he stated that he fought during his university studies for the Palestinian cause, and the setback of 1967 had an impact on his personality, like the people of his generation. He said that during his presidency of the Security Council in May 2010, he cried when he received the file. Palestine to submit its membership in the United Nations General Assembly.
Israeli media considered his election to head the International Court of Justice a source of concern given his declared positions in support of the Palestinian cause.
The Jerusalem Post wrote that Nawaf Salam has a history of making anti-Israel statements, and listed a number of his statements, as he wrote on social media in 2015, “Happy birthday to you, 48 years of occupation.”
He also wrote that “portraying critics of Israel’s policies as anti-Semites is an attempt to intimidate and discredit them, which we reject,” and called for Palestine’s membership in the United Nations, which would mean recognition of a Palestinian state.
The book “Lebanon Between Yesterday and Tomorrow” by Nawaf Salam was published in 2021 (Al Jazeera)
Diplomatic responsibilities
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations between 2007 and 2017 and its representative in the Security Council.
President of the Security Council between May 2010 and September 2011.
Vice-President of the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly from September 2012 to September 2013.
Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 2016 and 2018.
In 2018, he joined the International Court, which consists of 15 judges elected by the security forces and the United Nations General Assembly.
He was a member of Security Council field missions to several countries such as Ethiopia, Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and Afghanistan.
He headed Lebanese delegations in several international events, most notably:
Non-Aligned Movement Ministerial Meeting in Havana (2009).
International Conference on Financing for Development, Addis Ababa (2015).
Paris Climate Summit (2015).
High-level meeting on South-South and Triangular Cooperation in Dhaka (2015).
Medals and awards
He was awarded the French Legion of Honor, rank of officer, in 2012 by then French President Nicolas Sarkozy, in recognition of his “diplomatic skill” in leading the work of the Lebanese mission to the United Nations during Lebanon’s membership in the Security Council.
The branches of the Lebanese Cultural University in the World in New York and New Jersey awarded him the Expatriate Statue in 2016.
The book “Lebanon in the Security Council (2010-2011)” was published in 2013 (Al Jazeera)
Most important works
He has many books and articles in the fields of international and constitutional law, politics and history, as well as on issues related to international organizations and affairs. of between it:
“Possible reform and desired reform, research and articles on the Lebanese crisis,” University Institute for Studies and Publishing, 1989.
“Beyond Taif, Essays on the State and Reform,” 1998.
“The Lebanese Case: Sects, Citizens, State, and Citizenship in an Islamic Country,” 1998.
“Civil Society in the Arab World: Historical and Political Dimensions” in the Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School in 2002.
“Taif Agreement, cash recovery” in 2003.
“Options for Lebanon,” a joint book published in 2004.
“Lebanon in the Security Council 2010-2011” in 2013.
“Lebanon Between Yesterday and Tomorrow” in 2021, and was issued in two versions in Arabic and French.
“Civil Society in the Arab World: Historical and Political Dimensions” in the Islamic Legal Studies Program, Harvard Law School in 2002.
From doctoral theses:
“Conflicts and Political Perceptions in Contemporary Lebanon” at the Paris Institute for Political Studies in 1991.
“The 1958 Uprising in Lebanon” at the Sorbonne University in Paris in 1979.
Source: websites