The Nishimura Institute of Advanced Legal Studies appoints Mr. Shotaro Oshima as a Visiting Senior Scholar.

April 1, 2008

We are pleased to announce that Mr. Shotaro Oshima has joined the Nishimura Institute of Advanced Legal Studies (NIALS) as a Visiting Senior Scholar as of April 1, 2008.

During his forty-years of service as a diplomat, Mr. Oshima served in several departments of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Japan and in the Japanese Embassy in Thailand, Israel, Russia and America. During this time he had the honor to serve as the Ambassador to Saudi Arabia, Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Geneva and Ambassador to the Republic of Korea. Mr. Oshima also held a number of other prominent positions such as Director-General of the Economic Affairs Bureau and Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs. He has extensive experience in international trade law and policy, including the negotiation and implementation of international trade rules. He is especially known for his contribution to the "July Package," as Chair of the General Counsel of the WTO in 2004. He retired from office in March 2008.

Mr. Oshima has been appointed as one of the members of the Appellate Body of the WTO, and will take up his position this June. The Appellate Body adjudicates on international trade disputes as the final stage in the dispute settlement system of the WTO. He is the third person from Japan to be appointed to this position.

Shotaro Oshima

From June 2008
Member of the Appellate Body of the WTO

April 2008
Visiting Professor, Graduate School of Public Policy, The University of Tokyo

March 2008
Retired from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

2007-March 2008
Ambassador in Charge of International Economic Affairs
Ambassador in Charge of Inspection

2005-2007
Ambassador to the Republic of Korea

2002-2005
Ambassador and Permanent Representative of Japan to the International Organizations in Geneva
(Elected as General Council Chairman of the WTO and Chairman of the Dispute Settlement Body during this period)

2001-2002
Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs

2000-2001
Ambassador to Saudi Arabia

1997-2000
Director-General, Economic Affairs Bureau

1968
Graduated from the University of Tokyo (Jurisprudence)
Joined the Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Contact for further information:
Nishimura Institute of Advanced Legal Studies
+81-3-5562-9003(Direct)
nials@nishimura.com

* The Nishimura Institute of Advanced Legal Studies is the research division of Nishimura & Asahi.