Raul C. Pangalangan is an eminent Filipino jurist, legal scholar, and academic administrator widely recognized for his contributions to constitutional law and public international law. He achieved significant global prominence by serving as a judge for the International Criminal Court (ICC) at The Hague from 2015 to 2021. He was elected by the Assembly of States Parties in a special election to complete the term of his compatriot, the late Senator Miriam Defensor Santiago. During his tenure at the ICC, Judge Pangalangan presided over landmark international trials, including Trial Chamber IX, which convicted Lord’s Resistance Army commander Dominic Ongwen, and the historic case against Islamist militant Ahmad al-Faqi al-Mahdi, which marked the ICC’s first conviction regarding the war crime of intentionally destroying cultural and religious heritage during the Mali War.

Personal Information
Complete Name –> Atty. Raul Cano Pangalangan
Birth Date –> September 1, 1958 (Age )
Hometown –> Metro Manila, Philippines

Family
Wife –> Atty. Elizabeth Aguiling
Son –> Miguel Enrico Pangalangan

Education
College –> University of the Philippines (UP)
Degree –> Political Science (Cum Laude) (1978)
Law School –> University of the Philippines (UP)
* Passed the Bar in 1984
Master of Laws (LLM), Harvard Law School
* At Harvard, his research earned prestigious accolades, including the Laylin Prize in International Law and the Charles Sumner Prize for the best dissertation on international peace. He also holds a diploma from the venerable Hague Academy of International Law.

Government Service Career / Work Experiences
Atty. Raul Cano Pangalangan taught as a law professor and went on to serve as the distinguished Dean of the University of the Philippines College of Law from 1999 to 2005.

From 2012 to 2015, he stepped outside the classroom to serve as the publisher of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, one of the country’s leading newspapers. He has regularly been tapped as an amicus curiae (friend of the court) by the Supreme Court of the Philippines for high-profile constitutional and international disputes. After completing his ICC term, he continued his work in international justice as a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague, a judge for the Administrative Tribunals of both the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank, and as the chair of the International Labour Organization’s (ILO) Commission of Inquiry on Myanmar. Returning to institutional leadership, he was appointed as the inaugural dean of the Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Pasig College of Law, and was named chairman of the independent, civilian-led Philippine Truth and Reconciliation Commission tasked with investigating the extrajudicial aspects of the nation’s drug war.

Affiliation
Member, Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP)

RELATED: Cabinet Members and Other High Officials under President Bongbong Marcos

See also: List of Bar Topnotchers in the Philippines since 1903