Judge Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh, of Jordanian nationality, was a Judge on the International Court of Justice (“ICJ”) from 2000 to 2011, and the Court’s Vice-President from 2006 to 2009. After his departure from the Court in 2011, Al-Khasawneh became Prime Minister of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, a position he occupied until April 2012.
Al-Khasawneh has acted – and continues to act – as arbitrator as well as presiding arbitrator in ad-hoc and institutional arbitrations, which include both State-State and investor-State arbitrations. Al-Khasawneh also represents and advises sovereign States in numerous investment-related and territorial disputes.
In 2017-18, Al-Khasawneh served as Judge ad hoc in proceedings between Costa Rica and Nicaragua before the ICJ and, more recently, in March 2024, Al-Khasawneh was appointed as Judge ad hoc in proceedings between Nicaragua and Germany before the ICJ.
Al-Khasawneh has held a distinguished career in the diplomatic service of Jordan, holding numerous roles including as Head of the Legal Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, as Adviser to His Late Majesty King Hussein of Jordan and Adviser of the State on International Law with the rank of Cabinet Minister, and as Chief of the Royal Court. He has also served as the representative of Jordan in the Sixth Committee of the UN General Assembly for two decades and as Jordan’s alternate representative on the UN Security Council (from 1981 to 1982).
Al-Khasawneh was previously a Member of the United Nations Sub-Commission on the Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities from 1984 to 1993, of which he was Chairman and Special Rapporteur on forcible population transfers. He was also a member of the International Law Commission from 1986 to 1999, during which he contributed to the codification of treaties in international law. In 2016, he was appointed by the Secretary General of the United Nations as a Member of the High Panel on Access to Medicines.
Al-Khasawneh read for a Bachelors of Law and History at Cambridge University (Queens’ College) and completed postgraduate studies in International Law at the same university. He is an Honorary Fellow of Queens’ College, Cambridge, and lectures widely at prestigious universities around the world on a variety of issues in public international law. He has received various Jordanian distinctions and, in 1997, he was decorated by the French Government as a Grand Officier de la Légion d’Honneur.
Select Cases
Judge ad hoc at the International Court of Justice in:
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Proceedings instituted by the Republic of Nicaragua against the Federal Republic of Germany on 1 March 2024 (2024 - present)
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Case of Delimitation in the Caribbean and Pacific (Costa Rica v Nicaragua) joined with the Case of Construction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River (Nicaragua v Costa Rica) (2017-2018).
International Arbitration:
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Arbitrator in Indus Waters Treaty Arbitration (Pakistan v India), PCA Case No. 2023-01 (2023 - present).
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Arbitrator in AHG Industry GmbH & Co. KG v. Republic of Iraq, ICSID Case No. ARB/20/21 (2021-23);
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Presiding Arbitrator in Metroplex Berhad v. Republic of the Philippines, under the ASEAN Treaty and applying UNCITRAL Rules (2020-22);
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Presiding Arbitrator in an investment treaty arbitration between a Saudi Arabian company and the Arab Republic of Egypt under the OIC Investment Agreement, applying UNCITRAL Rules (2018-Present);
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Arbitrator in an investment treaty arbitration between a Saudi Arabian company and the Republic of Pakistan under the OIC Investment Agreement and applying UNCITRAL Rules (2018-2023);
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Arbitrator in a commercial dispute between a Pakistani power plant and governmental entities in Pakistan under ICC Rules applying English law (2018-2022);
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Arbitrator in a commercial dispute between a Malaysian energy company and governmental entities in Pakistan under ICC Rules applying English law (2017-2021);
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Presiding Arbitrator in an investment treaty arbitration between an Indian company and the Republic of Mauritius under a BIT and applying UNCITRAL Rules (2017-Present);
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Presiding Arbitrator in an ad hoc arbitration between an employer and contractor for the construction of a hotel in the Dead Sea, Jordan seated in Jordan under Jordanian law (2016-2019);
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Arbitrator in an investment treaty arbitration between an Australian company and the Republic of Turkey and under the Turkey-Australia BIT administered by the PCA (2016-2018);
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Presiding Arbitrator in an ad hoc construction arbitration between Joint Venture Construction Company v Jordan Petroleum Refinery Company PLC seated in Jordan under Jordanian law (2014-2015);
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Arbitrator in The ARA Libertad Arbitration (Argentina v Ghana) before the PCA (2013);
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Arbitrator in Abyei Arbitration (Government of Sudan v Sudan People’s Liberation Movement) before the PCA (2008-09).
Counsel for the Republic of the Sudan (2016 - 2020).
Represented the Sudan in State-to-State negotiations regarding the settlement of mutual claims under international law;
Acted as representative and counsel for the Sudan in numerous arbitral proceedings, including: Michael Dagher v the Republic of the Sudan (ICSID Arbitration Case No. ARB/14/2); ADRIA AG v Sudan Ren Chemicals & Fertilizers Limited and the Government of the Republic of Sudan (ICC Case No. 19281/EMT/GR); Geotehnika Ltd., Croatia v the Republic of Sudan and the National Corporation for the Development of Rural Water Resources (ICC Case No. 23078/MHM); ONGC Nile Ganga B.V. (Netherlands) v The Republic of Sudan (PCA Case No. 2019-12); and ONGC Videsh Limited (India) v The Republic of Sudan (PCA Case No. 2019-13).
