International Law and Treaties

In February 2024, Ambassador Mikanagi participated in the advisory proceedings before the International Court of Justice regarding “Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem” as Japan's Agent. Together with Professor Dapo Akande of the University of Oxford, he elaborated on how the prohibition of the acquisition of territory by force should be applied.

• Japan’s oral statements on 22 February 2024 (PDF)

From now on, Ambassador Mikanagi will be working toward further promoting international cooperation in the area of the rule of law and international law.

[Reference]
CV

• “Rule of Law” Lecture made at the Tokyo International Law Seminar (Video)
• Statement at the seventy-eighth session of the United Nations General Assembly, 20th plenary meeting on the Report of the International Court of Justice (Agenda Item 73) 2023/10/26
• Brochure - JAPAN’S INITIATIVE FORTHE RULE OF LAW AMONG NATIONS (PDF)
• Rule of Law Among Nations

Agent for Japan:

Oral proceeding for the ICJ Advisory Opinion on “Legal Consequences arising from the Policies and Practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem”, 24 February 2024, CR 2024/9, pp45-48
(Also responsible for MOFA’s participation in WTO DS and ISDS cases involving Japan from 2020 to 2024)

Academic Background:

BA in Law, University of Tokyo (1991)

Diploma in International Law, University of Cambridge (1994)

LL.M. (international law), University of Cambridge (1994)

Visiting Fellow, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, Cambridge (2017-19)

Part-time Lecturer:

Kobe University (2007, 2014), Waseda University (2013-2017), Chuo University (2013-2017), International University of Japan (2014-2017), Graduate School of Public Policy, Tokyo University (2015-2017), Sophia University (2017)

Academic Associations:

Member of Japanese Society of International Law and Japan Branch of International Law Association

Member of the Japan Branch of the International Law Association

Publications (in the personal capacity):

• (English)
  • “The Legal Basis of Missile Defense – An Examination of the Japanese Situation”, The Japanese Annual of International Law, No.48, 2005
  • “The Japanese Views on Legal Issues Related to Security”, The Japanese Yearbook of International Law (JYIL), No. 59, 2016
  • “Establishing a Military Presence in a Disputed Territory: Interpretation of Article 2(3) and (4) of the UN Charter”, International & Comparative Law Quarterly (ICLQ), Vol. 67, Part 4, October 2018, BIICL
  • Book review on Adatci Mineitciro — Nihon no Gaikokan kara Sekai no Saibankan e [Mineitciro Adatci — From a Japanese Diplomat to a World Judge], edited by Masaharu Yanagihara and Hatsue Shinohara. Tokyo: University of Tokyo Press, 2017. (Book review) JYIL, Vol 61, 2018
  • “Attribution of cyber operations: an international law perspective on the Park Jin Hyok case”, co-authored with Kubo Mačák, Cambridge International Law Journal, Vol. 9, No. 1, 2020
  • “Application of the Due Diligence Principle to Cyber Operations”, International Law Studies, Vol 97, 2021
  • “The Role of the Security Council in Addressing Malicious Cyber Operations that Threaten International Peace and Security” in “The Peaceful Settlement of Inter-State Cyber Disputes” edited by Nicholas Tsagourias, Russell Buchan and Daniel Franchini (Hart Publishing 2024)
• (Japanese)
  • “The Right of Self-Defence and the Legal Basis for Ballistic Missile Defence” (an article in 2007)（「自衛権と弾道ミサイル防衛の法的根拠」、村瀬信也編『自衛権の現代的展開』（東信堂2007年））
  • “Practice International Law” (updated Ichiro Komatsu’s textbook in 2015 and 2022)（「実践国際法」（第2版及び第3版）（信山社2015年及び2022年）補訂）
  • “Practitioner’s Perspectives on International Law” (edited a book compiling Ichiro Komatsu’s articles in 2019)（「国際法実践論集」（信山社2015年）編）
  • “The Establishment of a Military Presence in a Disputed Territory and Article 2(3) and (4) of the UN Charter” (an article in 2019)（「係争地における軍事拠点の設置と国連憲章2条3・4項」、芹田健太郎他編『実証の国際法学の継承（安藤仁介先生追悼）』（信山社2019年））
  • “Issues Involved in Pursuance of State Responsibility for Cyber Attacks” (an article in 2021)（「サイバー攻撃に対する国家責任の追及に伴う課題」、岩沢雄司・岡野正敬編『国際関係と法の支配（小和田恆国際司法裁判所裁判官退任記念）』（信山社2021年））
  • “The Function of Territorial Sovereignty in International Rules Relating to the Use of Internet” (an article in 2022)（「インターネットの利用に関する国際的なルールにおいて領域主権が果たす機能」、国際法外交雑誌第121巻第1号（2022年4月））

Activities in the area of international law (in the personal capacity):

• (Founder)
  • Tokyo International Law Seminar (TILS) (2023-)
• (Co-founder)
  • The Oxford Process on International Law Protections in Cyberspace
• (Co-organizer)
  • International Workshop “International Law and Cyber Security” 16 May 2018, Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, Cambridge
  • International Workshop “The Future of Multilateralism” 30 April 2019, Lauterpacht Centre for international Law, Cambridge
• (Panelist/Participant)
  • The Expert Roundtable on the subject of the obligations of States under Articles 74(3) and 83(3) of UNCLOS in respect of undelimited maritime areas, 22 January 2016, BIICL
  • The International Conference on ‘The Use of Force in relations to Sovereignty Disputes over Land Territory, 27 March 2018, BIICL
  • Spoke on “Attribution of Cyber Operations: Challenges for Invoking State Responsibility” at Zoom Conference “Disruptive Technologies and International Law”, 7-9 December 2020, Stockton Center for International Law, US Naval War College
  • Spoke on “Application of Existing International Law to Cyber Operations: Sovereignty, Attribution and Due Diligence” at Virtual Conference “Security at the Frontier: UK-Japan Perspectives on Cyberspace, Outer Space, the Arctic and Electronic Warfare”, 10 December 2020, the Royal Institute of International Affairs (Chatham House)
  • Spoke on “Difficulty of Cyber Attribution and the Role of Due Diligence Principles” at the 13th International Conference on Cyber Conflict (CyCon): Going Viral, 28 May 2021, NATO Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence (CCDCOE)
  • Panelist for the workshop on ‘Cybersecurity of Civilian Nuclear Infrastructure’, 12 October 2023, Internet Governance Forum (IGF), Kyoto International Conference Center, Japan
  • Spoke on “the Impact of National Positions on the Development of International Law” in the workshop on “National Positions on International Law in Cyberspace: Challenges, Opportunities, and Best Practices" at the 16th International Conference on Cyber Conflict (CyCon), 28 May 2024, Tallinn, Estonia