Following the death of ICJ President Professor Sir Nigel Rodley, Professor Robert K. Goldman has been appointed Acting-President of the ICJ.
Professor Goldman, from the United States, was appointed by the ICJ’s Executive Committee to serve as Acting President until such time as a new President is elected by the entire Commission.
Professor Goldman’s extensive background in human rights and the rule of law, as well as his experience as ICJ Vice-President, makes him well placed to fulfill this role and to build upon Professor Sir Nigel’s legacy in striving to promote and protect the ICJ’s mission.
Professor Goldman’s willingness to take on the role of Acting-President will provide the ICJ with the leadership the organization needs during this challenging time, when human rights are suffering from a global backlash, whilst the ICJ takes the time to find and elect the right person to fulfill the role of President.
Professor Robert K. Goldman’s biography
Robert Goldman was elected to the ICJ Commission in 2008 and then to the Executive Committee later that year, he was elected Vice-President in September 2014 and re-elected in 2016.
Robert Goldman is currently Professor of Law and Louis C. James Scholar at American University Washington College of Law. Professor Goldman teaches, practices and writes in the areas of International Law, Human Rights Law, Terrorism, and International Humanitarian Law.
He is also Faculty Director of the War Crimes Research Office and Co-Director of WCL’s Center For Human Rights and Humanitarian Law.
Prior to his academic career, Robert practiced international trade law at Arnold & Porter from 1974-1976.
In 1993, he chaired the Commission of International Jurists on the Administration of Justice in Peru, jointly tasked by the US and Peruvian governments to evaluate Peru’s anti-terrorist legislation.
He helped from 1994-1996 develop the normative framework for internally displaced persons and was a principal author of The Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.
He was a member of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights from 1995 to 2004 and was that body’s president in 1999-2000. Prior to his election to the Inter-American Commission, he was a member of the Policy Committee of Human Rights Watch and the Advisory Boards of Americas Watch, Helsinki Watch and Middle East Watch.
From July 2004 to August 2005, Professor Goldman was the former UN Human Rights Commission’s Independent Expert on the protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism.