Judge Hisashi Owada is a Judge of the International Court of Justice in The Hague and has served as its President. Before being appointed to this post in 2003, he served as president of the Japan Institute of International Affairs, and professor of law and organization at Waseda University Graduate School in Japan.
In the field of public service of Japan, Hisashi Owada has served as Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs, Permanent Representative of Japan to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in Paris, and as Permanent Representative of Japan to the United Nations in New York.
In the academic field, Hisashi Owada taught as professor of international law and organization at Tokyo University for 25 years since 1963, and at the law schools of Harvard University, Columbia University, and New York University, and is currently professor at Leiden University. He is a member of the Institut de Droit International.