Patel, an international jurist, was on the UN’s International Law Commission and was the vice chancellor of the Rashtriya Raksha University in Gujarat when he was elected a judge of the tribunal last year by the countries that have signed the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS).

Bimal Patel after he took the oath of office as a judge of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea on Oct. 1
Credit: India UN Mission