{{short description|Slovak judge}} {{Infobox officeholder | honorific_prefix = His Excellency | name = Peter Tomka | native_name = | native_name_lang = | honorific_suffix = | image_size = | order = | office = President of the International Court of Justice | term_start = 6 February 2012 | term_end = 6 February 2015 | vice_president = Bernardo Sepúlveda Amor | predecessor = Hisashi Owada | successor = Ronny Abraham | prior_term = | order2 = <!--Can be repeated up to eight times by changing the number--> | office2 = Vice President of the International Court of Justice | term_start2 = 6 February 2009 | term_end2 = 5 February 2012 | president2 = Hisashi Owada | predecessor2 = Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh | successor2 = Bernardo Sepúlveda-Amor | order3 = <!--Can be repeated up to eight times by changing the number--> | office3 = Judge of the International Court of Justice | term_start3 = 6 February 2003 | term_end3 = | predecessor3 = Géza Herczegh | successor3 = | birth_date = {{Birth date and age|1956|06|01|df=y}} | birth_place = Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia | death_date = | death_place = | resting_place = | resting_place_coordinates = | birth_name = | citizenship = | party = | other_party = <!--For additional political affiliations--> | spouse = | partner = <!--For those with a domestic partner and not married--> | relations = | children = | alma_mater = Charles University in Prague (LLM, PhD) | occupation = Judge | profession = | cabinet = | committees = | portfolio = | signature = | signature_alt = | website = | footnotes = }}
'''Peter Tomka''' (born 1 June 1956)<ref name="icjbiog">{{cite web |url=http://www.icj-cij.org/court/index.php?p1=1&p2=2&p3=1&judge=15 |title=International Court of Justice Biography |publisher=International Court of Justice |accessdate=2011-02-12 |archive-date=2012-02-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120217092658/http://www.icj-cij.org/court/index.php?p1=1&p2=2&p3=1&judge=15 |url-status=dead }}</ref> is a Slovak judge of the International Court of Justice. Prior to his election to the ICJ in 2003, Tomka was a Slovak diplomat.
==Early life and education== Tomka was born in Banská Bystrica, Czechoslovakia.<ref name="icjbiog"/> He earned LLM and PhD degrees from Charles University in Prague in 1979 and 1985 respectively. In addition, he has also undertaken studies at the Faculty of International Law and International Relations in Kyiv, Ukraine, at the Institut du droit de la paix et du développement in Nice, France, at the Institute of International Public Law and International Relations in Thessaloniki, Greece, and The Hague Academy of International Law in the Netherlands.<ref name="icjbiog"/>
==Career== In 1986, Tomka joined Czechoslovakia's Foreign Ministry as an assistant legal adviser, and in 1990 was promoted to head of the Ministry's Public International Law Division. The following year, he was transferred to the country's United Nations Mission, where he served as legal adviser. Following the division of Czechoslovakia, he served as Slovakia's deputy permanent representative from 1993 to 1994. From 1994 to 1997, he served as Slovakia's ambassador to the United Nations. Returning to the Foreign Ministry, he served as director of the International Law Department from 1997 to 1998, when he transferred to the post of director-general for international legal and consular affairs. After a year in that post, he was reappointed as Slovakia's UN ambassador, serving until his appointment to the court. He also held a seat on the International Law Commission between 1999 and 2002. He is member of the Slovak Society of International Law and has served as the organization's honorary president since 2003. He is also a member of the American Society of International Law and the European Society of International Law.<ref name="icjbiog"/>
Tomka was elected to the ICJ by the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council; his first term began on February 6, 2003.
In parallel to his ICJ Membership, Tomka served in 2005 as an Arbitrator of the ''Belgium/Netherlands Iron Rhine'' Tribunal,<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.pca-cpa.org/showpage.asp?pag_id=1155 |title=Belgium/Netherlands Iron Rhine Award |publisher=Permanent Court of Arbitration |accessdate=2011-02-12 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131019173343/http://www.pca-cpa.org/showpage.asp?pag_id=1155 |archivedate=2013-10-19 }}</ref> which was presided over by ICJ President Rosalyn Higgins and in 2007 Tomka has been Member of the ICSID ''ad hoc'' Committee in the case of ''Malaysian Historical Salvors v. Government of Malaysia'',<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.investmenttreatynews.org/cms/news/archive/2009/04/23/malaysian-historical-salvors-jurisdictional-award-annulled-committee-split-on-question-of-economic-development-as-criteria-of-icsid-investments.aspx |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120905113811/http://www.investmenttreatynews.org/cms/news/archive/2009/04/23/malaysian-historical-salvors-jurisdictional-award-annulled-committee-split-on-question-of-economic-development-as-criteria-of-icsid-investments.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-09-05 |title=Malaysian Historical Salvors (Jurisdiction) Award Annulled |author=Vis-Dunbar, Damon |date=2009-04-23 |publisher=Investment Treaty News |accessdate=2011-02-12 }}</ref> which also comprises ICJ s Stephen M. Schwebel (President) and Mohamed Shahabuddeen. In 2009, Tomka was also on the ''ad hoc'' Committee in the ''MCI Power Group v. Republic of Ecuador'' Annulment Decision.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://ita.law.uvic.ca/documents/MCI-Annulment_000.pdf |title=The MCI Power Group v. Republic of Ecuador Decision on Annulment Decision |publisher=International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes |date=2009-10-19 |accessdate=2011-02-12}}</ref>
The judges of the ICJ elected Tomka as their vice-president on 6 February 2009.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.icj-cij.org/presscom/files/9/15009.pdf |title=H.E. Judge Peter Tomka (Slovakia) Elected Vice-President |date=2009-02-06 |publisher=International Court of Justice |accessdate=2011-02-12}}</ref>
In 2011 Tomka was re-elected to a second nine-year term on the ICJ by the UN General Assembly and the Security Council;.<ref name=GA11171>{{cite press release | title=GA/11171: General Assembly, Concurrently with Security Council, Elects Four Judges to International Court of Justice |date=2011-11-10 |publisher=United Nations Department of Public Information • News and Media Division • New York |url=https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2011/ga11171.doc.htm}}</ref> In 2020 he was re-elected to a third nine-year term on the ICJ.<ref name="GA/12285">{{cite news |title=General Assembly, in Second Secret Ballot Round, Elects Five Judges to Serve Nine-Year-Long Terms on International Court of Justice {{!}} Meetings Coverage and Press Releases |url=https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/ga12285.doc.htm |accessdate=12 April 2021 |work=www.un.org |publisher=UN News Centre |date=12 November 2020 |language=en}}</ref>
In February 2012 Tomka was elected president of the court for a three-year term from 6 February 2012 until 2015.<ref name="icjpsdt">{{cite web|url=http://www.icj-cij.org/presscom/index.php?pr=2405&p1=6&p2=1&lang=en |title=International Court of Justice press release 2012/8|publisher=International Court of Justice |accessdate=2012-02-06}}</ref>
==References== {{reflist}}
==Further reading== * {{cite book|title=State Entities in International Arbitration 2008 |editor=Gaillard, E. |publisher=JurisNet |year=2007 |isbn=978-1-929446-96-4}} - contains an essay written by Tomka
==External links== * Lecture by Peter Tomka, [http://legal.un.org/avl/ls/Tomka_CT.html "The Special Agreement as a Way of Submitting Disputes to the International Court of Justice"], on the [http://legal.un.org/avl/lectureseries.html Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law] * Lecture by Peter Tomka, [http://legal.un.org/avl/ls/Tomka_BD.html "The Contribution of the International Court of Justice to the Development of the Law of Maritime Delimitation"], on the [http://legal.un.org/avl/lectureseries.html Lecture Series of the United Nations Audiovisual Library of International Law]. Retrieved 2013-04-05.
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tomka, Peter}} Category:1956 births Category:Living people Category:Czechoslovak diplomats Category:Permanent representatives of Slovakia to the United Nations Category:Slovak judges of United Nations courts and tribunals Category:Presidents of the International Court of Justice Category:International Court of Justice judges Category:Politicians from Banská Bystrica Category:The Hague Academy of International Law people Category:Charles University alumni Category:20th-century diplomats Category:21st-century judges