James L. Kateka

Judge James Luta Kateka (born 29th April 1945 in the district of Karagwe) was a Tanzanian lawyer and has been a Judge at the International Tribunal of the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) since 2005.

Judge Kateka graduated with a Bachelor of Law (with Honours) from the University of Dar-es-Salaam in 1970. This was followed by a Master of Law degree at King's College London with the orientation of international law in 1974. In 1970, he began his career in Tanzania’s Foreign Ministry and was, among others, consultant to Tanzania's Permanent Mission to the United Nations. He also served as Ambassador to Germany, Russia and Sweden.

Judge Kateka has also served as a member of various international conferences on the drafting of treaties under international law, including the Vienna Convention on State Succession in International Treaties, the Statute of the International Seabed Authority and that of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. He was awarded the Papal Honour of the Grand Cross with the Star of the Order of Pius IX in 1993.

Education: Bachelor of Laws (with honours), Dar-es-Salaam University College of the (then) University of East Africa (1970); Master of Laws (international law), King’s College, University of London (1974).

Professional Experience: Ministry of Foreign Affairs (1970–2005): Legal Officer, Protocol and Treaties Division (1970–1973), Head, Legal Section (1973–1975), Legal Adviser, Mission of the United Republic of Tanzania to the UN (1976–1980), Head (Minister Plenipotentiary), Treaties Section (1980–1983), Director (Legal Adviser), Legal Department (1983–1989), Ambassador to the Federal Republic of Germany, with concurrent accreditation to Austria, the Holy See, Poland, Romania and Switzerland  (1989–1994), Ambassador to the Russian Federation (1994–1998), Ambassador to Sweden, with concurrent accreditation to Denmark, Finland, Norway, Iceland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania (1998–2005); Partner, law firm South Law Chambers, Dar es Salaam (1995–2013); Judge ad hoc in the case concerning Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda), International Court of Justice (2001–2005); Dean of the diplomatic corps, Stockholm (2003–2005); Dean of the Ambassadors of the United Republic of Tanzania (2004–2005); Arbitrator in arbitration between Mauritius and the United Kingdom (2011–2015); Arbitrator in arbitration between Malta and Sao Tome and Principe (2013–2016); Judge ad hoc in the case concerning Immunities and Criminal Proceedings (Equatorial Guinea v. France), International Court of Justice (2016–present).

Member: Tanzanian delegation to: Stockholm Conference on the Human Environment (1972), London Conference on the Anti-dumping Convention (1972), IMO Conference that adopted the Marine Pollution Convention (1973), UN Conference that adopted the 1978 Vienna Convention on the Succession of States in Respect of Treaties (1977), Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting, New Delhi (1983), 1985 Nairobi Convention for the Protection, Management, and Development of the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Eastern African Region, UN Conference on Women, Nairobi (1985), 25^th Session of the Asian African Legal Consultative Committee, Arusha (1985), UNEP International Group of Experts on Environmental Dispute Avoidance and Settlement (1998–1999),;  Third UN Conference on the Law of the Sea  (1973–1982);  Special Committee on the Charter, UNCITRAL sessions, the Ad Hoc Committee against the Taking of Hostages, the Non-use of Force Committee and the Ad hoc Committee on the Indian Ocean as a zone of peace (1976–1980); Sixth (Legal) Committee of the UN General Assembly (1976–1988, 1996); Rapporteur, Ad hoc Committee on International Terrorism (1977–1979);  first and second special sessions of the UN General Assembly on Disarmament (1978 and 1982); Preparatory Commission for the International Seabed Authority and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (1983–1994); International Law Commission (1997–2006; Vice-Chairman 2002, Chairman of the Drafting Committee 2003); American Society of International Law (2005–present); British Institute of International and Comparative Law (2006–present); Member, Institute of International Law (2009–present); attended Beijing International Symposium on the Legal and Technical Aspects of the Outer Continental Shelf (May 2010); participated in the LOS Conference on Institutions and Regions in Ocean Governance (Hamburg, October 2010); chaired panel on “Securing the Rights of Landlocked Geographically-Disadvantaged States” at the Seventh Annual International Conference on “Securing the Oceans for the Next Generation” (Seoul, May 2012); attended Fifth International Symposium on Scientific and Legal Aspects of the Regimes of the Continental Shelf and the Area (Nanjing, China, May 2016); attended International Conference on Marine Environmental Protection in Asia – Regional Implementation of IMO Conventions (Singapore, August 2016).

Publications and lectures: Numerous articles for various legal publications and lectures on international law, including: “The ‘Tanzania National Report’”, Legal Aspects of Protecting and Managing the Marine and Coastal Environment of the Eastern African Region, UNEP Regional Seas Reports, No. 49, 1984; “The Forty Ninth Session of the United Nations International Law Commission”, African Yearbook of International Law (AYIL), vol. 5 (1997); “The Fiftieth Session of the ILC”, AYIL, vol. 6 (1998); “The Fifty-first Session of the ILC”, AYIL, vol. 7 (1999); “The Fifty-second Session of the ILC”, AYIL, vol. 8 (2000); “The Fifty-third Session of the ILC”, AYIL, vol. 9 (2001); “Diplomatic Protection”, The Protection of the Individual in International Law – Essays in Honour of John Dugard, Th. Skouteris and A. Vermeer-Kunzli (eds), 2007; “Landlocked Developing Countries and the Law of the Sea”, in: International Law between Universalism and Fragmentation-Festschrift Gerhard Hafner, I. Buffard, J. Crawford, A. Pellet and St. Wittich (eds) (2008); “Protection and Preservation of the Marine Environment in the Area under UNCLOS”, in: Coexistence, Cooperation and Solidarity: Liber Amicorum Rüdiger Wolfrum, Holger P. Hestermeyer et al. (eds), 2011; “Africa and the ITLOS”, in: Africa and International Law: Reflections on the International Organization – Liber Amicorum Raymond Ranjeva, M. Kamga, M.M. Mbengue (eds.), 2012; “Piracy and Armed Robbery”, in: International Law of the Sea, Essays in Memory of Anatoly L. Kolodkin, Roman A. Kolodkin (ed.), 2013; “Advisory Proceedings before the Seabed Disputes Chamber and before the ITLOS as a Full Court”, in: Max Planck Yearbook of United Nations Law, Vol. 17 (2013); “Land-locked and Geographically Disadvantaged States”, IMLI Manual on International Maritime Law, Vol. I (March 2014); “Combating piracy and armed robbery off the Somali coast and the Gulf of Guinea”, in: Law of the Sea, From Grotius to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, Liber Amicorum Hugo Caminos, L. del Castillo (ed.), Brill Nijhoff, 2015.