Francisco Rezek

Who is Francisco Rezek?

José Francisco Rezek is a Brazilian judge who served as a member of the International Court of Justice, based in The Hague, Netherlands, from 1996 to 2006. His surname "Rezek" comes from Lebanon.

He earned his LL.B and D.E.S degrees from the Federal University of Minas Gerais and practised as a lawyer for a few years. He then obtained his PhD degree from l'Université de Paris-Sorbonne in the 1970s. He followed his academic career on to England, earning a Diploma in Law at Oxford University in 1979, after undertaking extension courses and research at Harvard University and at the Hague Academy of International Law.

He was a Professor of International Law and Constitutional Law at the University of Brasília from 1971 to 1997 and later became Chair of the Department of Law, serving from 1974 to 1976 and Dean of the Faculty of Social Studies from 1978 to 1979. He moved to Rio de Janeiro and held Professorships in International Law at Rio Branco Institute from 1976 to 1997. Rezek was a Lecturer at The Hague Academy of International Law in 1986 and at the Institute of International Public Law and International Relations in Thessaloniki, Greece in 1989.