Today Tómas Heiðar took office as Judge at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Hamburg and made a solemn declaration at a public ceremony. Judge Heidar was elected to serve a term of nine years at the Meeting of States Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea on 11 June 2014.
Heiðar holds one of three seats at the Court that belong to the group of Western countries. The two other seats are being held by judges from France and Germany. Judge Heiðar was Legal Adviser at Iceland's Foreign Ministry prior to his election as judge where he served for around two decades.
The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea was established by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and began its work in 1996. The Tribunal is composed of a body of 21 independent members, elected from among persons of recognised competence in the field of the law of the sea according to a press release from the Foreign Ministry.