Lebanese Judge Nawaf Salam has been elected as the President of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague for a term of three years, according to a press release from the court obtained by Roya. 

After being elected as a member of the ICJ, Judge Nawaf Salam became the second Arab to head the ICJ since its establishment in 1945, following former Algerian Foreign Minister and President of its Constitutional Court, Mohammed Bedjaoui.

Judge Salam stated via his X account: "My election as President of the International Court of Justice is a major responsibility in achieving international justice and upholding international law."

"The first thing that also comes to my mind at this moment is my constant concern for my city, Beirut, to return to the laws, as is its title, and for us to succeed as Lebanese in establishing the rule of law in our country and for justice to prevail among its people," he added. 

- Prominent positions - 

Judge Salam served as the Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Lebanon to the United Nations in New York from July 2007 to Dec. 2017. He also held the position of Lebanon's representative to the United Nations Security Council in 2010 and 2011 during his non-permanent membership, assuming the presidency of the council in May 2010 and Sep. 2011.

Furthermore, he served as the Vice President of the 67th session of the United Nations General Assembly from Sep. 2012 to Sep. 2013 and effectively chaired the assembly in July 2013. Additionally, he represented Lebanon in the United Nations Economic and Social Council in 2016 and 2018.

He chaired the Lebanese delegation at the Climate Change Summit in Paris 2015, the International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa 2015, and the High-level Meeting on South-South Cooperation and Triangular Cooperation in Dhaka 2015.

He was a member of the Lebanese delegation at the South America-Arab States Summit in Lima 2012, the Rio+20 Summit on Sustainable Development in Rio de Janeiro 2012, and participated in United Nations Security Council field missions to Ethiopia, Sudan, and Kenya in 2011, as well as to Uganda and Sudan in 2010, and Afghanistan in 2010. He chaired the Lebanese delegation at the Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Havana 2009 and was a member of the Lebanese delegation at the Climate Change Summit in Copenhagen 2009 and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation Summit in Dakar 2008.

Before his diplomatic career, he practiced private law and was a member of the Beirut Bar Association, serving as a legal advisor and representative for various international and local entities, both public and private, in Beirut, Lebanon (1984-1989 and 1992-2007), and in Boston, United States (1989-1992). His primary areas of legal practice included general litigation, public and private international law, and international transactions.