Who Is Professor Phoebe Okowa, the Kenyan Legal Scholar Elected to the ICJ?

Professor Phoebe Okowa

Professor Phoebe Okowa is a Kenyan legal scholar who has secured a full nine-year term at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

She is internationally recognised for her work in Public International Law and has built an academic and legal career spanning decades.

Okowa currently serves as a professor of Public International Law and Director of Graduate Studies at Queen Mary University of London.

She was born in Kericho on January 1, 1965, and began her legal education at the University of Nairobi.

In 1987, she graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree, earning First Class Honours.

She made history as the first woman to receive First Class Honours in the university's Faculty of Law.

Her Education and Legal Career

After graduating, Okowa was admitted to the Kenyan Bar in 1990 as an advocate.

She later joined Wadham College, Oxford, through a Foreign and Commonwealth Office scholarship.

At Oxford, she obtained a Bachelor of Civil Law degree in 1990.

She subsequently completed her doctoral thesis in 1994 under Professor Sir Ian Brownlie.

Her professional experience includes advising governments and non-governmental organisations on international legal matters.

She has also served as counsel and consultant in proceedings before domestic and international courts, including the ICJ.

International Appointments

In 2016, Kenya appointed Okowa as a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague.

Her international profile expanded in 2021 when she was elected to the United Nations International Law Commission.

She became the first African woman to serve on the commission, beginning her five-year term on January 1, 2023.

The commission consists of 34 experts elected by the UN General Assembly to help develop and codify international law.

Members are selected based on recognised competence in international law.

Her Appointment to the World Court

Okowa joined the International Court of Justice in November 2025 through a by-election.

She filled the vacancy created by the resignation of Somali judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf.

Her initial appointment was due to end on February 5, 2027.

However, Kenya secured her election to a full nine-year term beginning February 6, 2027.

She will serve until 2036 on the 15-member court headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands.

Her election maintains Kenya's representation on the United Nations' principal judicial organ.