Phoebe Okowa Explained

Phoebe Nyawade Okowa
Birth Date:1 January 1965
Birth Place:Kericho, Kenya
Nationality:Kenyan
Alma Mater:Wadham College, Oxford
Occupation:Lawyer, Legal Academic, Author
Notable Works:State Responsibility for Transboundary Air Pollution in International Law (2000)Environmental Law and Justice in Context (2009)
Member of the United Nations International Law Commission
Term:2023-2027
Spouse:Leon Bennun

Phoebe Nyawade Okowa is a Kenyan lawyer and Professor of Public International Law and Director of Graduate Studies at Queen Mary University of London. In 2021 she was elected to the International Law Commission for a period of five years, starting January 1, 2023,[1] becoming the first African woman to serve as a member of the Commission.[2] [3] [4] In 2017 she was appointed a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague by Kenya.[5] An advocate of the High Court of Kenya, she has acted as counsel and consultant to governments and non-governmental organisations on questions of international law before domestic and international courts including the International Court of Justice.

The government of Kenya nominated Okowa for election to the UN International Law Commission[6] in May 2021.[7] She was co-nominated by the United Kingdom and endorsed by the African Union.[8] Okowa received 162 votes in the United Nations General Assembly.[9]

The International Law Commission (ILC) is a body of experts responsible for helping develop and codify international law. Under the ILC Statute, its members “shall be persons of recognised competence in international law”.[10] It is composed of 34 individuals who are elected by the United Nations General Assembly for a five year term.

Early life and education

Okowa was born in Kericho on 1 January 1965 to Luo parents. She graduated at the top of her class with a Bachelor of Law (LLB) with First Class Honours from the University of Nairobi, Kenya in 1987. Okowa was the first woman to be awarded a first-class honours degree in the history of the Faculty of Law of the University of Nairobi.[11] She was called to the Kenyan Bar as an Advocate in 1990.

Okowa then studied at Wadham College, Oxford on a Foreign and Commonwealth Office Scholarship, obtaining the degree of Bachelor of Civil Law (BCL) in 1990. She completed her doctoral thesis (D.Phil.) at Oxford in 1994 under the supervision of Professor Sir Ian Brownlie, the Chichele Professor of International Law. Her monograph on State Responsibility for Transboundary Air Pollution[12] published by Oxford University Press remains the definitive work on the legal challenges that environmental harm presents for traditional methods of accountability in International Law.[13]

Academic career

Okowa taught[14] Public International Law, British Constitutional Law and Private International Law as a member of the Faculty of Law at the University of Bristol. She has held visiting appointments at the University of Lille, University of Helsinki, Stockholm University and WZB Berlin Social Science Center for Global Constitutionalism and has lectured for the United Nations at its Regional Course on International Law for Africa. In 2011 and 2015 she was Hauser Global Visiting Professor of Law at New York University School of Law.

Okowa is a member of the Editorial Advisory Board of the African Yearbook of International and Comparative Law and of the Advisory Board of the African Association of International Law.[15] She is a member of The Society of Legal Scholars.

Okowa sits on the International Advisory Board of the Stockholm Centre for International Law and the Executive Committee of the International Society of Public Law (ICON-S).[13]

Legal career

Okowa has acted as counsel and consultant to governments and non-governmental organisations on questions of international law before domestic and international courts including before the International Court of Justice, involving cases concerning the application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, maritime delimitations, the Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965,[16] and Legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the occupied Palestinian territory including East Jerusalem,[17] [18] [19] and before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea in Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law.[20] [21]

Selected publications

Books

Journal articles

Chapters in books

Personal life

Okowa primarily resides in Cambridge, UK. She is married to Dr Leon Bennum, Chief Scientist of The Biodiversity Consultancy.[22]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Membership. August 16, 2023. International Law Commission.
  2. Web site: Kenyan Phoebe Okowa elected to International Law Commission. 2021-11-15. The Star. en-KE.
  3. Web site: 2021-11-15. Phoebe Okowa Elected at UN International Law Commission. 2021-11-15. The Kenya Forum. en.
  4. Web site: phoebe okowa advocate high court - Google Search. 2021-11-15. www.google.com.
  5. Web site: Professor Phoebe Okowa nominated to the Permanent Court of Arbitration. 2021-11-15. School of Law - Queen Mary University of London. 12 January 2017 . en.
  6. Web site: Okowa . Phobe . Phoebe Okowa . Professor Phoebe Okowa- Kenya's candidate for election to the UN International Law Commission . youtube.com . Phoebe Okowa . en . video . September 7, 2021.
  7. Web site: Candidature of Professor Phoebe Okowa for the UN International Law Commission 2021 Kenya. 2021-11-15. www.un.int.
  8. Web site: Phoebe Okowa: Home . Phoebe Okowa.
  9. Web site: Queen Mary Professor elected to UN International Law Commission. August 16, 2023. Queen Mary School of Law. 22 November 2021 .
  10. Web site: International Law Commission Statute. November 18, 1981. August 16, 2023.
  11. Web site: Phobe Okowa CV. August 16, 2021. August 16, 2023.
  12. Web site: State Responsibility for Transboundary Air Pollution in International Law . Oxford University Press . 2023-08-16.
  13. Web site: Professor Phoebe Okowa, LLB (Nairobi) BCL (Oxon), DPhil (Oxon), Advocate (High Court of Kenya) . Queen Mary University of London School of Law . 2024 . April 16, 2024.
  14. Web site: Phoebe Okowa. 2021-11-16. School of Law - Queen Mary University of London. en.
  15. Web site: Leadership. August 16, 2023. African Association of International Law (AAIL).
  16. Web site: Legal Consequences of the Separation of the Chagos Islands Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 . August 16, 2023 . International Court of Justice.
  17. Web site: Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem . International Court of Justice . April 16, 2024.
  18. Web site: Verbatim record 2024/11 Public sitting held on Friday 23 February 2024, at 10 a.m. . International Court of Justice pp. 12-20 . April 16, 2024.
  19. Web site: Namibia: ‘Germany first to commit genocide against us, genocide against Palestinians must not be ignored’ . Middle East Monitor . February 24, 2024 . April 16, 2024.
  20. Web site: Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Commission of Small Island States on Climate Change and International Law (Request for Advisory Opinion submitted to the Tribunal) . International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea . April 16, 2024.
  21. Web site: ITLOS/PV.23/C31/2/rev.1 - 11 September 2023 p.m. . International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea pp. 1-5 . September 11, 2023 . April 16, 2024.
  22. Web site: Leon Bennum. August 16, 2023. The Biodiversity Consultancy.

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