Careers

IMO Secretary-General, Mr Koji Sekimizu presents the International Maritime Prize for 2012 to Judge Thomas Mensah

H.E. Judge Thomas A. Mensah of Ghana is the first recipient from sub-Saharan Africa of the International Maritime Prize since it was established 33 years ago and adds to his list of achievements of firsts in his illustrious career

Judge Thomas A. Mensah, former President of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea and Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the Legal Affairs and External Relations Division at the International Maritime Organization (IMO), has been awarded the prestigious International Maritime Prize, for his significant contribution to the work of IMO.

IMO Secretary-General Mr. Koji Sekimizu presented the award, a sculpture in the form of a dolphin, to Judge Mensah, during a special ceremony at IMO Headquarters in London at the end of the first day of the 27th extraordinary session of the IMO Council.

The International Maritime Prize is awarded annually by the IMO Council to the individual or organization judged to have made the most significant contribution to the work and objectives of IMO, the United Nations specialized agency with responsibility for the safety and security of shipping and the prevention of marine pollution by ships.

A “long and distinguished career in international maritime affairs”.

The International Maritime Prize consists of a sculpture and includes a financial award, upon submission of a paper written on a subject relevant to IMO.

Judge Mensah was nominated for the prize by the Government of Ghana and has been recognized for his contribution over many years to the aims and objectives of IMO throughout a distinguished career in international maritime affairs, and as a specialist in public international law, the law of treaties, shipping law, the international law of the sea and international environmental law.

The award of the International Maritime Prize is another in the series of ‘firsts’ for Judge Thomas A. Mensah in what has been a truly remarkable legal career.

The nomination highlighted Judge Mensah’s long career at IMO (initially as head of the Organization’s newly-formed Legal Affairs Division and then as Assistant Secretary-General) followed by his appointment as a Judge at the newly-established International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) , from 1996 to 2005. He was also elected as the first President of the Tribunal, from 1996 to 1999.

Judge Thomas A. Mensah with the IMO Secretary-General, Koji Sekimuzu, and HE Professor Kwaku Danso-Boafo, the High Commissioner for Ghana

Present at the ceremony were the Honourable Mrs. Dzifa Attivor, Minister for Transport of the Republic of Ghana, who addressed the audience at the ceremony, and the High Commissioner for Ghana, His Excellency Professor Kwaku Danso-Boafo.

In his remarks at the ceremony, the Secretary-General of the IMO, Mr Koji Sekimizu, paid tribute to Judge Mensah’s “long and distinguished career in international maritime affairs”

who was inducted into the International Maritime Hall of Fame in New York in 1998 by the former United Nations Secretary-General, Mr. Kofi Annan, as someone who “is universally acknowledged as a specialist in public international law, the law of treaties, shipping law, the law of the sea and international environmental law.”

A Career of ‘Firsts’

The award of the International Maritime Prize is another in the series of ‘firsts’ for Judge Mensah in what has been a truly remarkable legal career. Born and raised in Ghana, he graduated from the University of Ghana and then studied abroad, first taking law at the University of London, graduating in 1959. In1961, he joined Yale University Law School, United States, obtaining a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in 1962 and a Doctor of the Science of Law (J.S.D.) title in 1964.

First working as Associate Legal Officer at the International Atomic Energy Agency in Vienna, he then joined the IMO Secretariat in London in 1968 as Director of the Legal Office, rising to the position of Assistant Secretary-General and Director of the expanded Legal Affairs and External Relations Division, whilst also a visiting Professor of the World Maritime University (WMU), in Malmö, Sweden, from 1981 to 1990.

On leaving IMO, Judge Mensah became Special Advisor on Environmental Law and Institutions, UN Environment Programme (UNEP) in Nairobi, from 1991 to 1992. He was Cleveringa Professor of Law, Leiden University, Leiden, The Netherlands, from 1993 to 1994 and Professor and Director of the Law of the Sea Institute at the University of Hawaii from 1993.

In 1995, in a departure from his legal career, Judge Mensah was appointed as the first High Commissioner of Ghana to the Republic of South Africa, presenting his credentials to former President Nelson Mandela.

In 1996 he was appointed the first President of ITLOS and continued to serve as an ITLOS Judge from 1999 to 2005. He has been a Member of the Institut de Droit International since 1989, a Titular Member of the Comité Maritime International, a Member of the Advisory Council of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and a Member of the Standing Committee on Maritime Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris. Judge Mensah has published numerous articles, monographs and papers in the field of public international law, law of the sea, maritime law and international environmental law.

“One of the Most Pleasant Surprises”

In accepting his award, Judge Mensah thanked the members of the IMO Council for the honour.

Judge Thomas A. Mensah with the IMO Secretary-General, Koji Sekimuzu, and HE Professor Kwaku Danso-Boafo, the High Commissioner for Ghana

“I was an official of this Organization when the International Maritime Prize was established, under the late and esteemed Secretary-General Emeritus, Mr. C.P. Srivastava. As the Legal Adviser and one of the senior officials of the Secretariat at the time, I played some part in setting out the terms and conditions of the award.

But never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine that I would one day be deemed worthy of the prize. That it has been awarded to me now must, therefore, be one of the most pleasant surprises to me. For this I am most grateful to the Government of Ghana which nominated me, and to the Council of IMO which decided to honour me with the award.”

The prestigious prize follows a series of academic and civil honours presented to Judge Mensah, including the Elizabeth Haub Prize for Environmental Law, in 2006, the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany, in 2007, an honorary PhD from the World Maritime University in Sweden, in 2007, and the Onassis Distinguished Scholar Award from the Rhodes Academy of Oceans Law and Policy, Greece, in 2008.

Concluding his thanks to the IMO delegates and his family and friends present at the Award Ceremony, Judge Mensah said: “Please believe me when I say that you have made this old campaigner extremely pleased and proud. I am very grateful to you, and I shall for ever treasure this honour most highly.”

Images: IMO (www.imo.org)