Background
Tomka, Peter was born on June 1, 1956 in Banská, Bystrica, Slovakia. Son of Ján and Kornélia (Plai) Tomka.
Tomka, Peter was born on June 1, 1956 in Banská, Bystrica, Slovakia. Son of Ján and Kornélia (Plai) Tomka.
Graduate, Charles University, Prague, Czechoslovakia, 1979. Doctor of Philosophy in International Law, Charles University, 1985.
Prior to joining the International Court of Justice, Tomka was a Slovak diplomat. In addition, he has also undertaken studies at the Faculty of International Law and International Relations in Kiev, Ukraine, at the Institut du droit de la paix et du développement in Nice, France, at the Institute of International Public Law and International Relations in Thessaloniki, Greece, and the Hague Academy of International Law in the Netherlands. In 1986, he joined Czechoslovakia"s Foreign Ministry as an Assistant Legal Adviser, and in 1990 was promoted to Head of the Ministry"s Public International Law Division.
The following year, he was transferred to the country"s United Nations Mission, where he served as Legal Adviser.
Following the division of Czechoslovakia, he served as Slovakia"s Deputy Permanent Representative from 1993 to 1994. From 1994 to 1997, he served as Slovakia"s Ambassador to the United Nations.
Returning to the Foreign Ministry, he served as Director of the International Law Department from 1997 to 1998, when he transferred to the post of Director-General for International Legal and Consular Affairs. After a year in that post, he was reappointed as Slovakia"s United Nations Ambassador, serving until his appointment to the Court.
He also held a seat on the International Law Commission between 1999 and 2002.
Tomka was elected to the International Court of Justice by the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council. His first term began on February 6, 2003. Government of Malaysia, which also comprises International Court of Justice s Stephen M. Schwebel (President) and Mohamed Shahabuddeen.
In 2009, Tomka was also on the ad hoc Committee in the Microwave Communications Incorporated Power Group v.
Republic of Ecuador Annulment Decision. The judges of the International Court of Justice elected Tomka as their vice-president on 6 February 2009.
In 2011 Tomka was re-elected to a second nine-year term on the International Court of Justice by the United Nations General Assembly and the Security Council. His term now expires on 5 February 2021.
In February 2012 Tomka was elected President of the Court for a three-year term from 6 February 2012.
Jurisdictional Immunities of the State (Germany v Italy)
In the matter of the Preah Vihear Temple (Cambodia v Thailand).
He is member of the Slovak Society of International Law and has served as the organization"s Honorary President since 2003. He is also a member of the American Society of International Law and the European Society of International Law. In parallel to his International Court of Justice Membership, Tomka served in 2005 as an Arbitrator of the Belgium/Netherlands Iron Rhine Tribunal, which was presided over by International Court of Justice Rosalyn Higgins and in 2007 Tomka has been Member of the ICSID ad hoc Committee in the case of Malaysian Historical Salvors v.
Married Zuzana Halgasová, June 30, 1990.