Institute alumna Patrícia Galvão Teles (PhD ‘02) has been elected to the International Law Commission, a body established by the United Nations in 1947 to encourage the progressive development of international law.
Patricia Galvão Teles has been a Professor of International Law and EU Law at the Autonomous University of Lisbon at the Law and International Relations Departments since 2002, a Senior Legal Consultant on International Law at the Legal Department of the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs since 2015 and a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) since 2016. Previously, she was a Legal Adviser at the Portuguese Permanent Representation to the European Union in Brussels (2008-2015) and a Legal Consultant on International Law at the Legal Department of the Portuguese Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2001-2008).
She completed her PhD in International Law in 2002 and her master degree in International Law in 1995 at the Graduate Institute. Her thesis supervisors were Georges Abi-Saab, Lucius Caflisch and Marcelo Kohen. The latter was also nominated to the commission.
Patricia Galvão Teles was one of just four women candidates. She was elected by 151 of the 193 members of the United Nations.
All 34 members of the Commission, whose term ended at the end of 2016, have been replaced, and the newly elected members will remain in office for the next five years. Each State Member of the United Nations can nominate not more than four candidates, of whom two can be nationals of the nominating State and two nationals of other States (articles 3, 4 and 7). Commission members were elected according to the pattern set up in paragraph 3 of resolution 36/39 of 18 November 1981, as follows: