DR. NORBERT WÜHLER 7, Place des Perrières CH - 1296 Coppet ...

DR. NORBERT WÜHLER
7, Place des Perrières
CH - 1296 Coppet
SWITZERLAND
Phone: + 41 22 592 83 30 (work)
+ 41 79 611 83 11 (mobile)
Email: nwuehler@iom.int
PROFILE
German lawyer with over twenty years of practice in international reparations and dispute resolution.
Specialty: claims by private parties against states.
WORK EXPERIENCE
International Organization for Migration (IOM), Geneva, Switzerland
Director, Claims and Reparation Programmes
2000 - Present
Direct the department responsible for IOM’s claims and reparation programmes. Currently these
include:
As an implementing partner of the German Federal Foundation “Remembrance, Responsibility and
Future”, IOM has processed over 370,000 claims for compensation of former slave and forced
labourers and other victims of Nazi injustice, as well as 35,000 claims for property losses.
As an implementing agency under the settlement agreement reached in the Holocaust Victim Assets
Litigation before the US District Court for the Eastern District of New York, IOM has processed
approximately 50,000 claims for compensation of former slave and forced labourers and refugees
refused at Swiss borders during the Second World War.
IOM provides expert advice and technical assistance to the Commission for the Resolution of Real
Property Disputes which has been established in Iraq to deal with claims of persons who lost real
property as a result of actions of the Ba’athist regime between 1964 and 2003. Approximately
130,000 such claims have been filed with the Commission.
IOM provides expert advice and technical assistance to the National Reparation and Reconciliation
Commission which has been established in Colombia in 2005, inter alia to deal with real property
claims of persons displaced as a result of the violence in the country over the last forty years.
United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), Geneva, Switzerland 1992 - 2000
Chief, Legal Services Branch
Directed the Legal Services Branch of the UNCC which was responsible for the processing of 2.6
million claims of individuals, corporations and governments. The claims against Iraq for a total
amount of approx. US$ 330 billion were for direct loss and damage, including environmental damage
that resulted from Iraq’s 1990/1991 invasion and occupation of Kuwait. The Legal Services Branch
employed 150 lawyers and support staff that supported 18 Commissioner Panels.
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Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, The Hague, Netherlands 1983 - 1991
Legal Adviser to the President and Deputy Secretary-General
Advised the President on all claims before the Full Tribunal and before the Chamber of which the
President is Chairman. Assisted the Secretary-General, and acted for him during his absence, in the
administration of the Tribunal and the relations with the host country and the Governments of Iran and
the United States. The Tribunal was established by Iran and the United States following the Islamic
revolution in Iran in 1979 and the Tehran hostage crisis to deal with claims between the two states and
their nationals and companies. Its initial docket comprised 4,000 claims for a total amount of US$ 50
billion.
Bars of Heidelberg and Mannheim, Germany 1979 - 1983
Attorney
Practice included German private and administrative law, foreign commercial and international
business law.
Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law 1978 - 1983
and International Law, Heidelberg, Germany
Research Fellow
Research and expert opinions for courts, governments, international organizations and law firms.
Areas of specialization: international courts and tribunals, international economic and development
law, codification of international law, public law of Spain and Latin American countries.
University of Saarland, Saarbrücken, Germany 1977 - 1978
University Assistant, Chair for German Constitutional and
Administrative and International Law
Teaching and research in German constitutional and administrative law and in international law.
OTHER PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Chairman, Member and Secretary of International Arbitral
Tribunals
1989 - Present
Cases involved parties from Eastern and Western Europe, the Middle East, the United States and
South America, as well as international organizations. Proceedings were, inter alia, under the
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Arbitration Rules, the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules,
Swiss Civil Procedure Codes, ad hoc rules and under bilateral investment protection treaties.
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Member, Kosovo Property Claims Commission Since 2007
One of two international members of the Commission. The Commission was set up in May 2007 to
deal with claims for the return or compensation of commercial real property lost as a result of the
conflict in Kosovo during 1998 and 1999.
Commission for Real Property Claims in Bosnia and Herzegovina 1996
Special Adviser
Advised the Commission in its set-up phase on the organization of and procedures for the Commission
and the processing of the claims. The Commission, which was set up under Annex 7 of the Dayton
Peace Agreement, resolved 320,000 claims from displaced persons for the return of real property and
housing.
Malawi National Compensation Tribunal
Adviser to the Chairman 1995
Advised the Chairman of the Tribunal on the organization of and procedures for the national claims
programme. The Tribunal was set up under chapter XIII of the 1994 constitution of Malawi to
entertain claims with respect to criminal and civil liability of the former Government.
University of Mannheim and
District Courts of Heidelberg and Mannheim, Germany 1990 - 1992
Lecturer
Taught courses for students and law clerks in international commercial arbitration and international
dispute resolution.
EDUCATION
Doctor of Law 1984
University of Heidelberg, Germany
Second State Examination in Law 1976
Baden-Württemberg, Germany
First State Examination in Law 1973
University of Heidelberg, Germany
LANGUAGES
German - mother tongue
English - fluent
French - very good working knowledge
Spanish - basic knowledge
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PUBLICATIONS AND PAPERS
Publications and papers in the fields of international state responsibility and dispute resolution.
MEMBERSHIPS
German Institution for Arbitration (DIS)
German Society for International Law
International Bar Association (IBA)
International Law Association (ILA)
(Member, Committee on International Commercial Arbitration)
London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)
Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA)
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