On 12 November 2021, University of Vienna professor Dr August Reinisch was re-elected with 149 votes for a further five years as a member of the UN International Law Commission, by the UN General Assembly in New York. Professor Reinisch has been a member of the commission since 2017. A total of 48 candidates from all over the world applied for the 34 vacancies in the highly competitive election.
We congratulate Professor Reinisch on his success in this international election. His re-election is a recognition of his outstanding expertise and of Austria’s leading role in the field of international legislation and the rule of law,
commented Foreign Minister Michael Linhart, who was delighted with the election result.
The UN International Law Commission was set up in 1947 by the UN General Assembly. Its mission is to promote the ongoing development and codification of international law. The commission is composed of 34 independent experts on international law from jurisdictions all over the world, who are elected by the UN General Assembly for a five-year term. The next term of office begins on 1 January 2023.
Many international conventions, which now form the basis of international law, originate from drafts by the UN International Law Commission. Key examples are the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic and Consular Relations, the Vienna Convention on the Law of Treaties and the Convention on the Law of the Sea.
Professor Reinisch has lectured for 20 years at the University of Vienna, where he is head of the Department for International Law and International Relations at the Institute for European Law, International Law and Comparative Law. Formerly the Vice Dean at the same university’s Faculty of Law, he regularly acts as an arbitrator in international tribunals and has also been a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague since 2014.
Former Austrian members of the UN International Law Commission included: Alfred Verdross (1957-1966); Stephan Verosta (1977-1981) and Gerhard Hafner (1997-2001).
