Phoebe Nyawade Okowa is a Kenyan lawyer, international-law professor and sitting judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). On 3 November 2026, she was elected to a full nine-year term on the United Nations' principal judicial organ, beginning on 6 February 2027.
She had already been a judge there since November 2025, when she was chosen to complete the remaining term of a predecessor who had resigned. Born in Kericho, Kenya, on 1 January 1965, Okowa is 61 years old as of November 2026. Her path to The Hague took her through the University of Nairobi, the University of Oxford, university teaching in Britain and years of advising governments in international cases.
Who is Phoebe Okowa? Phoebe Nyawade Okowa is a 61-year-old Kenyan judge of the International Court of Justice and professor of public international law at Queen Mary University of London, currently on leave. The first Kenyan elected to the ICJ, she won a full nine-year term on 3 November 2026 after initially joining the bench in 2025.
An election that extends an existing judgeship
Okowa's November 2026 election did not give her a first seat on the ICJ. She had been sitting on the court since 12 November 2025, when the General Assembly and Security Council elected her to the unexpired term of Somali judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf. The ICJ's official 2025 announcement specified that the initial term would end on 5 February 2027.
The 2026 election gave her a full term from 6 February 2027 to 5 February 2036. The United Nations General Assembly proceedings record that she received 183 votes on the decisive ballot and obtained the required support in the Security Council. The meeting transcript is an automated, unofficial transcript; the election outcome is independently confirmed by diplomatic statements and contemporary reporting.
Okowa is already serving as a judge, but the newly won term has not yet begun. See the election report for the ballots.
Kericho, Nairobi and the road to Oxford
According to her ICJ curriculum vitae, Okowa was born in Kericho on 1 January 1965. The court's primary biographical record establishes her age as 61 on 4 November 2026. It lists a first-class honours Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi in 1987 and a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Kenya School of Law in 1988.
After studying in Kenya, Okowa received a Foreign and Commonwealth Office scholarship to Wadham College, Oxford. She completed the Bachelor of Civil Law in 1990 and a doctorate in public international law in 1994. Her doctoral supervisor was international-law scholar Ian Brownlie, as the University of Oxford's law faculty explains in its account of her first ICJ election.
BIOGRAPHY
Who Is Phoebe Okowa? Kenya's ICJ Judge, Age, Career and Education
Nov 4, 2026
Nov 4, 2026
8 min read
Published
Updated:
Phoebe Nyawade Okowa is a Kenyan lawyer, international-law professor and sitting judge of the International Court of Justice (ICJ). On 3 November 2026, she was elected to a full nine-year term on the United Nations' principal judicial organ, beginning on 6 February 2027.
She had already been a judge there since November 2025, when she was chosen to complete the remaining term of a predecessor who had resigned. Born in Kericho, Kenya, on 1 January 1965, Okowa is 61 years old as of November 2026. Her path to The Hague took her through the University of Nairobi, the University of Oxford, university teaching in Britain and years of advising governments in international cases.
Who is Phoebe Okowa? Phoebe Nyawade Okowa is a 61-year-old Kenyan judge of the International Court of Justice and professor of public international law at Queen Mary University of London, currently on leave. The first Kenyan elected to the ICJ, she won a full nine-year term on 3 November 2026 after initially joining the bench in 2025.
An election that extends an existing judgeship
Okowa's November 2026 election did not give her a first seat on the ICJ. She had been sitting on the court since 12 November 2025, when the General Assembly and Security Council elected her to the unexpired term of Somali judge Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf. The ICJ's official 2025 announcement specified that the initial term would end on 5 February 2027.
The 2026 election gave her a full term from 6 February 2027 to 5 February 2036. The United Nations General Assembly proceedings record that she received 183 votes on the decisive ballot and obtained the required support in the Security Council. The meeting transcript is an automated, unofficial transcript; the election outcome is independently confirmed by diplomatic statements and contemporary reporting.
Okowa is already serving as a judge, but the newly won term has not yet begun. See the election report for the ballots.
Kericho, Nairobi and the road to Oxford
According to her ICJ curriculum vitae, Okowa was born in Kericho on 1 January 1965. The court's primary biographical record establishes her age as 61 on 4 November 2026. It lists a first-class honours Bachelor of Laws degree from the University of Nairobi in 1987 and a Diploma in Legal Practice from the Kenya School of Law in 1988.
After studying in Kenya, Okowa received a Foreign and Commonwealth Office scholarship to Wadham College, Oxford. She completed the Bachelor of Civil Law in 1990 and a doctorate in public international law in 1994. Her doctoral supervisor was international-law scholar Ian Brownlie, as the University of Oxford's law faculty explains in its account of her first ICJ election.
She was called to the Kenyan Bar in October 1990. Her legal training combined the Kenyan professional qualification with advanced academic work on international obligations, a combination that later informed both courtroom advocacy and academic research.
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Teaching law before joining the ICJ
Okowa spent decades in university law departments before taking her judicial seat. She taught at the University of Bristol during the 1990s and subsequently developed her career at Queen Mary University of London, where she became professor of public international law in 2014. The Queen Mary faculty profile details her work in public international law, environmental protection, the law governing force and the legal responsibility of states.
In 2024–25, the Princeton University Center for Human Values hosted her as a visiting fellow, extending research on responsibility for colonial-era wrongs.
Okowa's principal published work includes State Responsibility for Transboundary Air Pollution in International Law (2000), which examines the difficult question of attributing environmental harm across borders. She also co-edited Environmental Law and Justice in Context (2009) with Jonas Ebbesson. The books informed her contributions to international legal scholarship.
International law, environment and accountability
Okowa has worked on the legal relationships between sovereign states, armed conflict and natural resources. Her published and advisory experience includes claims about environmental destruction, the responsibilities of governments in international disputes and how international law is applied by national courts. In 2024, Stockholm University awarded her an honorary doctorate in law, recognising her contribution to legal scholarship.
Before becoming a judge, she advised states and other bodies involved in cases before the ICJ and other international tribunals. Her court résumé lists work concerning maritime boundaries, climate-change obligations and questions of humanitarian law. This pre-judicial work as counsel is distinct from her present responsibility to decide cases independently as a member of the bench.
International court disputes reach communities across Africa. XTRAfrica has separately reported on the DRC's 2026 application against Rwanda at the ICJ and on the implementation of court-ordered Uganda–DRC reparations and calls for scrutiny of the reparations fund. These are examples of the court's regional relevance, not claims that Okowa has adjudicated either matter.
The International Law Commission milestone
In 2021, Okowa was elected to the United Nations International Law Commission, the expert body that assists with the development and codification of international law. She became the first African woman elected to the body, according to Queen Mary's 2021 announcement. Her five-year appointment began in January 2023; she chaired the commission's drafting committee during its 2024 session.
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It is important not to describe her as a current commission member. The UN's 2026 session record confirms that she resigned and that Olufemi Elias of Nigeria was elected on 5 May 2026 to fill the resulting vacancy. Her ICJ role and her former commission role are separate appointments with different responsibilities.
She also served as a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration from 2017 to 2022 and became an associate member of the Institut de Droit International in 2025. The latter's member profile records her academic speciality in state responsibility, environmental law and the use of force.
Kenya's first ICJ judge, now elected until 2036
Okowa's first election in November 2025 made her the first Kenyan to serve as an ICJ judge. Kenya formally campaigned in 2026 for her to gain an ordinary nine-year term. On 3 November, the General Assembly and Security Council completed that election. Sierra Leone's Permanent Mission to the UN confirmed it withdrew Charles Chernor Jalloh's candidature and backed Okowa during the final stage.
A Kenyan judge's presence on the ICJ is a significant moment for the country's participation in international legal institutions. But an ICJ judge does not sit as a delegate instructed by their country. Judges serve independently and decide the disputes properly before the court under international law. The court hears interstate disputes and issues advisory opinions; it is separate from the International Criminal Court.
Her nine-year re-election places her alongside other judges chosen through independent ballots in the two UN bodies. It also turns a short appointment made to fill a resignation into an extended period of judicial service.
Phoebe Okowa's career timeline
Family information and public record
Okowa's public biographical record concentrates on her legal qualifications, research and judicial service. Her private family circumstances are not essential to understanding the ICJ election.
These entries do not mean that she is unmarried or has no children. They mean that her current family circumstances have not been established by reliable public biographical records.
Phoebe Okowa FAQs
Who is Phoebe Okowa?
She is a Kenyan international-law scholar and ICJ judge who joined the court in November 2025 and secured a full nine-year term on 3 November 2026.
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What is Phoebe Okowa's full name?
She is commonly identified as Phoebe Nyawade Okowa; her ICJ profile lists her as Phoebe N. Okowa.
How old is Phoebe Okowa?
She was born on 1 January 1965 and is 61 years old as of 4 November 2026, according to the ICJ's official résumé.
Where was Phoebe Okowa born?
She was born in Kericho, Kenya.
Where did Phoebe Okowa study law?
She studied at the University of Nairobi, the Kenya School of Law and the University of Oxford, where she completed a BCL and a doctorate.
When did Phoebe Okowa first become an ICJ judge?
She joined the court on 12 November 2025, filling the vacancy left by Abdulqawi Ahmed Yusuf.
When does Phoebe Okowa's full nine-year term begin?
Her newly won term begins 6 February 2027 and ends 5 February 2036.
Was Phoebe Okowa a member of the UN International Law Commission?
Yes. She served from 2023 until her resignation in 2025. A replacement was elected in May 2026.
Does Phoebe Okowa represent Kenya in ICJ decisions?
No. She is Kenyan, but ICJ judges serve as independent members of an international court rather than national representatives.
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