Takashi TAKASHIMA

Mr. Takashi Takashima is Legal Officer at the International Trade Law Division (ITLD) of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, which functions as the substantive secretariat of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

From April 2018 to September 2022, he was Senior Attorney of the Litigation Bureau and the Minister’s Secretariat International Affairs Division of the Japanese Ministry of Justice. For the Japanese Government, he represented meetings and led policy coordination on legal issues in multilateral forums with a special focus on UNCITRAL and ICSID. He also played an essential role in the formulation of the Japanese Government’s strategy on international disputes.

His prior experience includes serving as Judge of various domestic courts in Japan for 12 years. Alongside his extensive experience in dispute settlement, he has diplomatic experience
as second secretary of the Permanent Mission of Japan to the United Nations. Mr. Takashima functioned as coordinator for the process on the enlargement of UNCITRAL
membership and successfully led the negotiations to a consensual adoption of a resolution increasing UNCITRAL membership from 60 to 70 at the United Nations General Assembly in December 2021. He also served as Rapporteur for the UNCITRAL WGII project on the expedited arbitration rules.