Posted by Webby on
Professor Taslim Olawale Elias was the first African judge to be appointed
president of the International Court of Justice in The Hague. He was a legal
giant in Nigeria and the world, having been the longest-serving judge at the
ICJ.
Born is 1914, he was a renowned academic, administrator, legal luminary and
Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Nigeria (1972-75). He was vice president
of the ICJ from 1979-82 and later became its president from 1982-83. He was
a respected jurist worldwide and was member of several African and United Nations
legal bodies.
Admired and respected for his authorship of a body of legal works, he taught law at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, where he was a professor and dean of faculty of law.
He became governor of the Institute of Oriental and African Studies, University of London from 1957-60.
He was awarded the NNOM in 1979.
