Judge Kuniko OZAKI (Japan)

Judge as of 20 January, 2010, for a term of eight years and two months (to fill a judicial vacancy). Assigned to the Trial Division. Elected from the Asian Group of States, list B.

Judge Ozaki (1956) has extensive practical and academic experience in the field of international criminal law and human rights. Having graduated from Tokyo University in 1978 and obtained an M.Phil. in international relations from Oxford University in 1982, she worked for the Japanese government in a number of positions, including Ambassador and Special Assistant to the Foreign Ministry, Director for Human Rights and Humanitarian Affairs in the Foreign Ministry, Director for Refugees in the Justice Ministry and Specialist to the Criminal Affairs Bureau of the Justice Ministry. From 2006 to 2009, she served as Director for Treaty Affairs for the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), where her main responsibility was implementation of relevant international treaties as well as the development of domestic legislation on organised crime, corruption and terrorism; the training of judges and prosecutors in developing countries; and the establishment of the rule of law and national criminal justice systems in post-conflict regions. Using her vast experience as an academic lawyer, Judge Ozaki also taught as a professor of international law at the Tohoku University Graduate School of Law and at other national universities, and has written extensively on international criminal law, refugee law and law of human rights.