The Secretary-General of the International Seabed Authority (ISA), H.E. Mr. Michael W. Lodge, is pleased to announce the appointment of Ms. Mariana Durney from Chile as the Legal Counsel of ISA.
Ms. Durney is an expert and advisor in Public International Law and Law of the Sea with more than 23 years of experience in international affairs.
Before joining ISA, Ms. Durney served as the Legal Counsel to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile (1999-2022). She held several high-level positions and represented her country in various bilateral and multilateral international forums. She was the Director-General for Legal Affairs at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (2018-2020) and the Director for Boundaries at the National Department of State Borders and Boundaries (2016-2018), becoming the first woman to serve in that post and preside over a Joint Boundary Commission.
Ms. Durney served as Legal Counsel in cases before the International Court of Justice (2008-2014, 2013-2018 and 2016-2022). She was the Executive Coordinator of the International Court of Justice Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile and was posted as special Legal Counsel at diplomatic missions of her country abroad (2020-2022).
Ms. Durney brings extensive practical experience in treaty law and interpretation, privileges and immunities regimes, international cooperation, investment and dispute settlement as well as specialized expertise in the law of the sea matters, such as maritime delimitation, extended continental shelf, cartographic processes, high seas regime, navigation issues, protected areas, negotiations related to biodiversity beyond national jurisdiction and the legal regime of the international seabed area, among others. Ms. Dunery also has a long academic career. Prior to joining ISA, she was Professor and Head of the Department of Public International Law at the Pontificia Universidad Católica of Chile. She also taught specialized courses in the field of the Law of the Sea, Boundaries Disputes and Neighborhood Policies, and International Dispute Settlement at the Heidelberg Center for Latin America, the Diplomatic Academy of Chile and other Universities.
Ms. Durney holds a Master’s in International Law, LL.M (int) from the Heidelberg University in Germany, a Master of International Law, Trade, Investment and Arbitration from the University of Chile and a Magíster Universitario of European Union Law from the Universidad Complutense of Madrid, Spain. Ms. Durney has been part of the Board of the Chilean Society of International Law since 2020. She is a member of the Chilean Branch of the International Law Association, of the Latin American Society of International Law, the European Society of International Law and the American Society of International Law, among other professional bodies. She recently joined the International Advisory Panel (2022-2025) of the Centre for International Law (CIL) at the National University of Singapore.
Ms. Durney will take up her assignment in September 2022.
For media enquiries, please contact:
Ms. Stefanie Neno, Communications Specialist, ISA, sneno@isa.org.jm