Patibandla. Chandrasekhara Rao (22 April 1936 – 11 October 2018) was an Indian
jurist
A jurist is a person with expert knowledge of law; someone who analyses and comments on law. This person is usually a specialist legal scholar, mostly (but not always) with a formal qualification in law and often a legal practitioner. In the Uni ...
. He was from Veerullapadu Village
Guntur
Guntur () is a city and the administrative headquarters of Guntur district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Guntur is spread across 168.49 km square and is the third-largest city in the state. It is situated to the west of the Ba ...
-
Krishna District
Krishna district is district in the coastal Andhra Region in Indian state of Andhra Pradesh, with Machilipatnam as its administrative headquarters. It is the coastal district of Andhra Pradesh. Machilipatnam is the most populated city in the di ...
region of coastal
Andhra Pradesh of what was then called
Madras Presidency
The Madras Presidency, or the Presidency of Fort St. George, also known as Madras Province, was an administrative subdivision (presidency) of British India. At its greatest extent, the presidency included most of southern India, including the ...
.
From October 1996 until 2017 he was a
judge
A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...
at the
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS). He was the president of ITLOS from 1999 to 2002. He was also an honorary visiting professor at
Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University
Damodaram Sanjivayya National Law University (DSNLU) is a National Law University located at Sabbavaram, Anakapalli district, Andhra Pradesh, India constituted by the DSNLU Act, 2008. It offers 5 year integrated B.A LLB. (Hons.) course to e ...
,
Visakhapatnam.
Studies
Rao graduated from the
University of Madras in two subjects, with a double bachelors in
Arts as well as
Law. Thereafter he did further studies, on completion of which he was awarded a Masters in Law and subsequently a
doctorate.
Career
Chandrasekhara Rao initially worked as a researcher for the ''
Indian Society of International Law'' from 1963-67. He then joined the Ministry of External Affairs (India) where he worked as a Law Officer (1967–1971) and subsequently Assistant Legal Adviser (1971–1976) in the Legal and Treaties Division. During this time, he acted as counsel for the Government of India in the case concerning an Appeal relating to the Jurisdiction of the
ICAO
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO, ) is a specialized agency of the United Nations that coordinates the principles and techniques of international air navigation, and fosters the planning and development of international a ...
(India v. Pakistan) before the International Court of Justice in 1972.
Thereafter Rao was appointed
Legal Adviser
Legal advice is the giving of a professional or formal opinion regarding the substance or procedure of the law in relation to a particular factual situation. The provision of legal advice will often involve analyzing a set of facts and advising a p ...
to the
Permanent Mission
A diplomatic mission or foreign mission is a group of people from a state or organization present in another state to represent the sending state or organization officially in the receiving or host state. In practice, the phrase usually deno ...
of India at the
United Nations (
New York City) from 1972–1976. He continued to hold high level posts in the
Indian government's
Ministry of Justice, including Deputy Legislative Counsel, Additional Legal Adviser, Joint Secretary and Legal Adviser, Additional Secretary (1976–1988), Secretary (1988–1996), Union Ministry of Law and Sole Arbitrator in Government contracts (1979–1983). He was the Secretary-General of the International Center for Alternative Dispute Resolution, New Delhi (1995–1996).
Since 1 October 1996, Rao has been a judge at the
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea.
Rao has also been a
visiting professor from 1994 to 1995 at
Osmania University,
Hyderabad;
Kakatiya University (
Warangal) and
University of Madras in 1995-96. From 1994 to 2000 he was president of the ''
Indian Society of International Law''.
Awards
Rao was awarded the
Padma Bhushan by the Government of India on 25 January 2012 for his contribution to the area of public affairs.
Books
Rao has authored several books
on International law including
* The New Law of Maritime Zones, 1982
* The Indian Constitution and International Law, 1993
* The Arbitration and Conciliation Act, 1996: A Commentary, 1997
* Alternative Dispute Resolution: What it means and how it works (ed.), 1996
* The International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea: Law and Practice (co-ed.), 2000
* The Rules of the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea: A Commentary (co-ed.), 2006
References
External links
ITLOS - Judge P. Chandrasekhara RaoBiography at the website of the ITLOS
Press release from the Press Information Bureau — Govt of India
{{DEFAULTSORT:Rao, P. Chandrasekhara
20th-century Indian judges
1936 births
2018 deaths
International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea judges
Recipients of the Padma Bhushan in public affairs
Indian judges of United Nations courts and tribunals
People from Guntur district
People from Krishna district