Bruno Simma (born March 29, 1941, in Quierschied, Germany) is a German jurist who served as a judge on the International Court of Justice (ICJ), from 2003 until 2012.

He served as an affiliated overseas faculty member of the University of Michigan Law School, teaching classes in Ann Arbor until 2021, and as one of the three third-country arbitrators on the Iran–United States Claims Tribunal, to which he was appointed in 2013.

Career

Positions as a judge, arbitrator, and member of UN expert bodies

Simma served as a Judge on the ICJ from February 6, 2003, until his term expired on February 5, 2012; he was not a candidate for re-election in the 2011 election. From 1996 to 2002, Simma served as a member of the UN International Law Commission, contributing to the Commission's work on state responsibility. From 1987 to 1996, he served as a member of the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.

Simma has acted as an arbitrator in numerous inter-state, foreign investment, international commercial, and sports law cases.

Simma has received honorary degrees from the Universities of Macerata, Glasgow and Innsbruck.

Notable ICJ decisions

  • Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v. Italy)
  • Legal Consequences of the Construction of a Wall in the Occupied Palestinian Territory
  • Oil Platforms (Islamic Republic of Iran v United States of America)
  • Armed Activities on the Territory of the Congo (Democratic Republic of the Congo v. Uganda)

Other activities

  • Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law, Member of the Board of Trustees

References

  • International Court of Justice Biography
  • Who's Who in Public International Law 2007
  • Jessup's 50th Anniversary Honorary Committee and 103rd ASIL Annual Meeting on International Law as Law, Fairmont Hotel in Washington, D.C., 25–28 March 2009