Current Composition

The Tribunal is composed of seven judges, all of whom are nationals of different Member States of the Bank. The judges are not members of Bank Group staff and are appointed for fixed terms. The judges must be persons of “high moral character” and must “possess the qualifications required for appointment to high judicial office or be jurisconsults of recognized competence.” They are appointed by the Executive Directors of the Bank from a list of candidates drawn up by the President of the Bank after appropriate consultation. The essential ethical standards required of the judges in the performance of their duties are enumerated in the Code of Judicial Conduct, as adopted by the Tribunal on 25 October 2019.

 

President

Mahnoush Arsanjani (Iran)

Mahnoush Arsanjani

Mahnoush H. Arsanjani served in the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs for over 30 years in various positions. She was Director of the Codification Division and Secretary to the United Nations International Law Commission, and also Secretary of the Committee of the Whole of the Rome Conference on the Establishment of the International Criminal Court. She served as a member of the Bahrain Independent Commission of Enquiry, established in June 2011 by the King of Bahrain to investigate and report on events in Bahrain in 2011. She was a member of the Expert Group established by the 2008 Ad Hoc Energy Ministers Meetings Held in Jeddah and London, and also served as a special consultant to the International Energy Forum which drafted the Charter of the International Energy Forum. She was Vice President of the American Society of International Law and is a member of the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law. She has published widely and lectured at leading universities and institutions on international law, international tribunals and international institutions.

Vice President

Marielle Cohen-Branche (France)

Marielle Cohen-Branche (France)

​Marielle Cohen-Branche was judge at the French Cour de Cassation from 2003 to 2012, until her retirement. She served as a member of The World Bank’s Sanctions Board from 2007 to 2012. She was a member of the Sanctions Commission (2003-2011) and is currently the ombudsman (since 2012) of the French Stock Exchange Regulator. From 1978 to 2002, Ms. Cohen-Branche was a senior executive and legal manager at an international banking institution. Prior to her time in the private sector, she served as General Secretary of CEDIMOM, a non-governmental organization that assists European countries operating in developing nations. For her distinguished national service, Ms. Cohen-Branche was awarded the French Legion d'honneur.

Janice Bellace (United States)

Janice Bellace (United States)

Janice Bellace is a Professor of Legal Studies & Business Ethics and Professor of Management in The Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. She was the Director of the Huntsman Program in International Studies and Business at the University of Pennsylvania and she is currently the Director of the Tanoto ASEAN (Association of Southeast Asian Nations) Initiative at the Wharton School. She was a member of the Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations of the International Labour Organization. Active in several professional organizations, she was the President of the International Labour and Employment Relations Association and recently stepped down as the President of the International Society for Labour and Social Security Law.  In the United States, she has been the President of the Labor and Employment Relations Association and is a former Secretary of the Section on Labor and Employment Law of the American Bar Association.

Judges

Andrew Burgess (Barbados)

Andrew Burgess (Barbados)

Andrew Burgess is a Justice of Appeal in the Court of Appeal of Barbados. From 2004 to 2010, he was a judge of the Inter-American Development Bank Administrative Tribunal where he served as Vice President in 2007 and 2009 and President in 2009-2010. Prior to this he served as Dean of the Faculty of Law of the University of the West Indies from 1989-1992 and 1995-2004; as a Senator in the Senate and as a Councillor in the Council of that University; as a Professor of Corporate and Commercial Law; as a member of the Barbados Judicial Council, as a member of the Tax Appeal Tribunal in Barbados, and as Chairman of a number of national and regional committees. He is the author of two books on company law and has published widely on a range of legal issues especially in corporate and commercial jurisprudence.

Seward Cooper (Liberia)

Seward Cooper

Seward Montgomery Cooper is an international and corporate lawyer. He served as the Legal Advisor to the President of Liberia, Nobel Peace Laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and as a member of the Cabinet from 2011-2016. Prior to that appointment, he was the first head of the African Development Bank Group’s Integrity and Anti-Corruption office, and earlier served as Chief Counsel & Unit, Head for Good Governance. He is the founding editor-in-chief of the African Development Bank’s “Law for Development Review.” He co-led the conception and drafting of documents for establishment of the African Legal Support Facility (ALSF) - an international organization. Mr. Cooper has written and lectured on international legal matters and, among other works, co-authored a three volume treatise on Liberian corporate law. Mr. Cooper has litigated cases at both trial and appellate levels, and has served on several boards of directors including the ALSF’s Management Board, which he chaired. Formerly, he served as president of the Liberia Chamber of Commerce and adjunct professor of business law at the University of Liberia. He is the Chancellor of the Episcopal Diocese of Liberia and the Internal Province of West Africa. Mr. Cooper is admitted as counselor-at-law of the Supreme Court of Liberia and of the United States of America.

Lynne Charbonneau (Canada)

Lynne Charbonneau

Lynne Charbonneau is a lawyer and corporate director. She serves on the Board of Directors, and as Chair of the Human Resources and Compensation Committee, of BlueShore Financial Credit Union, which is one of Canada's largest credit unions. She is the Chair of Actsafe Safety Association, a worker health and safety organization for the production in British Columbia of motion picture, television, live events and performing arts. She also serves on the Board of Directors of Inuvialuit Development Corporation, a diversified investment, venture capital and management holding company owned on behalf of the Inuit of Canada’s western Arctic. In recent years, Ms. Charbonneau served on the Futures Task Force of the Law Society of British Columbia and on the Dean’s Advisory Committee for the Centre for Business Law at the Peter A. Allard School of Law at the University of British Columbia. From 2005 until 2018, Ms. Charbonneau served as Deputy General Counsel at HSBC Bank Canada. Prior to her time with HSBC, Ms. Charbonneau was a partner of the Canadian national law firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP, where she practiced in the fields of labour and employment law and subsequently corporate and securities law.

Ann Power-Forde (Ireland)

Ann Power-Forde (Ireland)

Ann Power-Forde is a Judge of the Court of Appeal in Ireland. She is an experienced international judge having been elected in 2008 to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, France. Her separate opinions contributed to significant developments in that court’s case law, including, for example, on the protection of journalists’ sources and the right to conscientious objection at work. In 2017 Ann was elected as Presiding Judge of the Constitutional Court Chamber at the Kosovo Specialist Chambers in The Hague—an EU established internationalized tribunal with jurisdiction over grave international crimes, including, war crimes and crimes against humanity. Prior to becoming a Judge, Ann practiced as Senior Counsel and managed an extensive legal practice in Public, Medical and Constitutional law. As an academic, she lectured in Philosophy and Jurisprudence and has published and presented papers on a range of human rights issues, including, judicial independence, non-discrimination at work and judicial ethics. Ann is an Associate Tenant at Doughty Street Chambers, a member of Inner Temple (London) and a Bencher of the King’s Inns, (Dublin). She is Adjunct Professor at Dublin City University and guest Visiting Professor at the University of Padua and LUISS University, Rome. She is a distinguished International Speaker and has lectured, extensively, throughout Europe and the United States.

Executive Secretary

Zakir Hafez (Bangladesh)

Zakir Hafez

Zakir Hafez is the Executive Secretary at the World Bank Administrative Tribunal. Prior to the World Bank, he worked at the law firms of Steptoe & Johnson and White & Case in Washington, DC. He is a member of the New York State and District of Columbia bars. Mr. Hafez completed his doctoral degree, Doctor of Juridical Science (SJD), from the George Washington University Law School in 2003. Prior to that, he obtained Masters of Laws (LL.M.) in International and Comparative Law from the same law school in 2000. Before coming to the United States, he studied law in Norway and Malaysia, after finishing high school in Bangladesh. He has published a number of books and articles.

Useful information for applicants and potential applicants about the Tribunal and its procedures.

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Applications filed with the Tribunal must comply with the requirements of Rule 7 and Annex 1 of the Tribunal's Rules. Applicants may use the form below to complete and submit their applications.

Guide to Completing the Application Form
Application Form

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