Hsu Mo (; October 22, 1893 in

Suzhou Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

, province of

Jiangsu Jiangsu is a coastal Provinces of the People's Republic of China, province in East China. It is one of the leading provinces in finance, education, technology, and tourism, with its capital in Nanjing. Jiangsu is the List of Chinese administra ...

– June 28, 1956 in

The Hague The Hague ( ) is the capital city of the South Holland province of the Netherlands. With a population of over half a million, it is the third-largest city in the Netherlands. Situated on the west coast facing the North Sea, The Hague is the c ...

) was a Chinese

lawyer A lawyer is a person who is qualified to offer advice about the law, draft legal documents, or represent individuals in legal matters. The exact nature of a lawyer's work varies depending on the legal jurisdiction and the legal system, as w ...

politician A politician is a person who participates in Public policy, policy-making processes, usually holding an elective position in government. Politicians represent the people, make decisions, and influence the formulation of public policy. The roles ...

and

diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...

. He worked from 1931 to 1941 as deputy foreign minister of his country, as

ambassador An ambassador is an official envoy, especially a high-ranking diplomat who represents a state and is usually accredited to another sovereign state or to an international organization as the resident representative of their own government or so ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and to

Turkey Turkey, officially the Republic of Türkiye, is a country mainly located in Anatolia in West Asia, with a relatively small part called East Thrace in Southeast Europe. It borders the Black Sea to the north; Georgia (country), Georgia, Armen ...

, and from 1946 until his death as a judge at 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 ...

Life

Hsu Mo was born in 1893 in

Suzhou, China Suzhou is a major prefecture-level city in southern Jiangsu province, China. As part of the Yangtze Delta megalopolis, it is a major economic center and focal point of trade and commerce. Founded in 514 BC, Suzhou rapidly grew in size by the ...

, and studied law at

Peiyang University Tianjin University (TJU; zh, t=, , s=天津大学, p=, labels=no), previously Peiyang University (), is a national public research university in Tianjin, China. Established in 1895 by a royal charter from Guangxu Emperor, Tianjin University is t ...

and at

George Washington University The George Washington University (GW or GWU) is a Private university, private University charter#Federal, federally-chartered research university in Washington, D.C., United States. Originally named Columbian College, it was chartered in 1821 by ...

. He received his doctorate in Australia at the

University of Melbourne The University of Melbourne (colloquially known as Melbourne University) is a public university, public research university located in Melbourne, Australia. Founded in 1853, it is Australia's second oldest university and the oldest in the state ...

. In the 1920s, he worked first as a professor of

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 ...

and

international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...

Nankai University Nankai University is a public university in Tianjin, China. It is affiliated with the Ministry of Education of China. The university is part of Project 211, Project 985, and the Double First-Class Construction. Nankai University was establ ...

and later as a

judge A judge is a person who wiktionary:preside, presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a judicial panel. In an adversarial system, the judge hears all the witnesses and any other Evidence (law), evidence presented by the barris ...

in various district courts. In 1928, he moved to the Chinese Foreign Ministry, where he worked as a consultant and later as Director of the European-American and Asian Department. Three years later, he became Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs. After ten years in this position, he became Extraordinary and Plenipotentiary Ambassador to Australia in 1941 and from 1944 to 1946 he was ambassador of his homeland to Turkey. After the end of World War II, in April 1945, he participated on the

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 ...

Committee of Jurists in Washington DC, tasked with preparing draft statutes for the then contemplated International Court of Justice. He also served as the

rapporteur A rapporteur is a person who is appointed by an organization to report on the proceedings of its meetings. The term is a French-derived word. For example, Dick Marty was appointed ''rapporteur'' by the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Eur ...

of the Committee on Chapter VI of the

United Nations Charter The Charter of the United Nations is the foundational treaty of the United Nations (UN). It establishes the purposes, governing structure, and overall framework of the United Nations System, UN system, including its United Nations System#Six ...

on the Regulations for the Peaceful Settlement of Disputes. A year later he was elected a judge of the International Court of Justice, where he worked until his death. His successor was his compatriot

Wellington Koo Koo Vi Kyuin (; January 29, 1888 – November 14, 1985), better known as V. K. Wellington Koo, was a Chinese diplomat, politician, and statesman of the Republic of China (1912–1949), Republic of China. Born in Shanghai, Koo studied at Colum ...

. Hsu Mo became a member of the Institut de Droit International in 1948. He died in 1956, in The Hague.

References

* Raymond M. Lorantas: ''Hsu Mo.'' In: Warren F. Kuehl (Hrsg.): ''Biographical Dictionary of Internationalists.'' Greenwood Press, Westport 1983, , S. 359/360 * ''Hsu Mo.'' In: Arthur Eyffinger, Arthur Witteveen,

Mohammed Bedjaoui Mohammed Bedjaoui () (born September 21, 1929 in Sidi Bel-Abbes) is an Algerian diplomat and jurist. He served as Algeria's ambassador to France and the United Nations among other places. He also served as a judge on the International Court of Jus ...

: ''La Cour internationale de Justice 1946–1996.'' Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, Den Haag und London 1999, , S. 292 *'
Death of His Excellency Judge Hsu Mo, Member of the International Court of Justice
' News Release 56/12 of the International Court of Justice of 28 June 1956 on the death of Hsu Mo (available online through the website of the ICJ as

PDF File Portable document format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating system ...

, approximately 70KB) {{DEFAULTSORT:Hsu, Mo 1893 births 1956 deaths Academic staff of Nankai University Diplomats of the Republic of China International Court of Justice judges Members of the Institut de Droit International Ambassadors of China to Australia Ambassadors of China to Turkey Politicians from Suzhou Republic of China politicians from Jiangsu Writers from Suzhou 20th-century Chinese historians Historians from Jiangsu Chinese judges of United Nations courts and tribunals 20th-century Chinese lawyers 20th-century Chinese judges