Awn Shawkat Al-Khasawneh (; born 22 February 1950) is a Jordanian former politician and judge who was the 39th Prime Minister of Jordan, serving from October 2011 to April 2012. He was also formerly a judge of the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...

Early life and education

Al-Khasawneh was born in

Amman Amman ( , ; , ) is the capital and the largest city of Jordan, and the country's economic, political, and cultural center. With a population of four million as of 2021, Amman is Jordan's primate city and is the largest city in the Levant ...

on 22 February 1950. Khasawneh received his primary education at the Islamic College in Jordan."Awn Al-Khasawneh" https://www.awn-alkhasawneh.com> He received his university education at

Queens' College, Cambridge Queens' College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Queens' is one of the 16 "old colleges" of the university, and was founded in 1448 by Margaret of Anjou. Its buildings span the R ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

, where he attained a bachelor's degree in history and law. He also received a master's degree in

international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...

from the same university."Awn Al-Khasawneh" https://www.awn-alkhasawneh.com>

Career

From 1980 until 1990, Al-Khasawneh held senior legal posts in the Jordanian ministry of foreign affairs. From 1991 to 1994, he was legal adviser to the Jordanian delegation to the peace negotiations between

Israel Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...

and Jordan. In 1995, Al-Khasawneh became adviser to

King Hussein Hussein bin Talal (14 November 1935 – 7 February 1999) was King of Jordan from 1952 until his death in 1999. As a member of the Hashemite dynasty, the royal family of Jordan since 1921, Hussein was traditionally considered a 40th-generati ...

and adviser of the State on international law with the rank of cabinet minister. He was appointed chief of the Royal Hashemite Court from 1996 to 1998. Khasawneh has also been a member of numerous international law bodies during his career. He was elected to the International Court of Justice in 1999 and re-elected in 2008. He served in this post from 6 February 2000 to 31 December 2011. He also served as vice-president of the Court from 2006 to 2009. He resigned from the Court by letter dated 20 November 2011. On 17 October 2011, he was appointed by

King Abdullah II Abdullah II (Abdullah bin Hussein; born 30 January 1962) is King of Jordan, having ascended the throne on 7 February 1999. He is a member of the Hashemites, who have been the reigning royal family of Jordan since 1921, and is traditionally reg ...

as prime minister of Jordan, replacing

Marouf al-Bakhit Marouf Suleiman al-Bakhit (; 18 March 1947 – 7 October 2023) was a Jordanian politician who was twice prime minister. He first served as prime minister from 27 November 2005 until 25 November 2007 and then again from 9 February 2011 to 17 Octo ...

(who had been accused of corruption during an earlier tenure as prime minister). ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

'' reported that Khasawneh has a reputation as a clean politician and is a noted legal expert. On 26 April 2012, Al-Khasawneh submitted his resignation to King Abdullah, who, in turn, accepted the resignation.

Fayez al-Tarawneh Fayez Tarawneh (; '; 1 May 1949 – 15 December 2021) was a Jordanian independent politician, who served twice as the 31st Prime Minister of Jordan, and also as Chief of the Royal Hashemite Court. Early life and education Tarawneh was born on ...

succeeded Khasawneh as prime minister. In November 2016, Al-Khasawneh was appointed by

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

to the High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines, co-chaired by

Ruth Dreifuss Ruth Dreifuss (born 9 January 1940) is a Swiss economist, unionist and politician who served as a member of the Federal Council from 1993 to 2002. She served as Vice President of Switzerland in 1998 and as President of Switzerland in 1999 for t ...

, former President of

Switzerland Switzerland, officially the Swiss Confederation, is a landlocked country located in west-central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the south, France to the west, Germany to the north, and Austria and Liechtenstein to the east. Switzerland ...

, and

Festus Mogae Festus Gontebanye Mogae (born 21 August 1939) is a Motswana politician and economist who served as the third President of Botswana from 1998 to 2008. He succeeded Quett Masire as President in 1998 and was re-elected in October 2004. After ten ...

, former President of

Botswana Botswana, officially the Republic of Botswana, is a landlocked country in Southern Africa. Botswana is topographically flat, with approximately 70 percent of its territory part of the Kalahari Desert. It is bordered by South Africa to the sou ...

.Secretary-General Appoints Two Former Presidents, 14 Others as Members of High-Level Panel on Access to Medicines

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

, press release of 19 November 2015. In 2017, Al-Khasawneh was appointed as Judge Ad-Hoc at the International Court of Justice in the Case of Delimitation in the Caribbean and Pacific (Costa Rica v Nicaragua) joined with the Case of Construction of a Road in Costa Rica along the San Juan River (Nicaragua v Costa Rica)."Awn Al-Khasawneh Appointments" He has also been appointed as an arbitrator."Awn Al-Khasawneh Appointments" Al-Khasawneh publishes and lectures on a variety of issues of international law at prominent universities worldwide."Awn Al-Khasawneh's Lectures and Publications"

Honours

Order of Independence (Jordan) The Order of Independence (''Wisam al-Istiqial'') is the fourth knighthood order of the Kingdom of Jordan. History It was instituted in 1921 by Emir Hussein bin Ali, Sharif of Mecca. Grades The Order of Independence is divided in five class ...

, First Class (1993); Kawkab Order, First Class (1996); Nahda Order, First Class (1996) (Jordan). Légion d'Honneur, Grand Officier (1997) (

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

) International Jurists Award, 2009.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Khasawneh, Awn 1950 births Living people Alumni of Queens' College, Cambridge International Court of Justice judges Jordanian judges Members of the Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights Politicians from Amman People of the Arab Spring Prime ministers of Jordan Grand Cordons of the Order of Independence (Jordan) Grand Officers of the Legion of Honour Jordanian judges of United Nations courts and tribunals Jordanian officials of the United Nations

Early life and education

Career

Honours

See also

References