Presidents of the Assembly

2023	Mr. Fanday Turay	Sierra Leone
2022	Mr. Satyendra Prasad*	Fiji
2020/2021	Mr. Denys Wibaux	France
2019	Ms. Kamina Johnson Smith	Jamaica
2018	Mr. Mariusz-Orion Jędrysek	Poland
2017	Mr. Eugénio Muianga	Mozambique
2016	Rear Admiral (retd.) Md. Khurshed Alam	Bangladesh
2015	Mr. Helmut Tuerk	Austria
2014	Mr. Antonio Francisco Da Costa e Silva Neto	Brazil
2013	Mr. Vladimir Mikhailovich Polenov	Russia
2012	Mr. Milan Jaya Nyamrajsingh Meetarbhan	Mauritius
2011	Mr. Peter Thomson	Fiji
2010	Mr. Jesùs Silva-Fernandez	Spain
2009	Mr. Mario Jose Pino	Argentina
2008	Mr. Ryszard Kotlinski	Poland
2007	Chief Olufolajimi Modupe Akintola	Nigeria
2006	Mr. Sainivalati S Navoti	Fiji
2005	Mr. Olav Myklebust	Norway
2004	Mr. Dennis Francis	Trinidad and Tobago
2003	Mr. Jozef Franzen	Slovakia
2002	Mr. Martin Belinga-Eboutou	Cameroon
2001	Mr. Peter Dickson Donigi	Papua New Guinea
2000	Ms. Liesbeth Lijnzaad	Netherlands
1999	Mr. José Luis Vallartar	Mexico
1998	Mr. Tadeusz Bachleda-Curus	Poland
1997	Mr. Amos Wako	Kenya
1996	Mr. Hasjim Djalal	Indonesia

*In his absence, the President designated Mr. Olav Myklebust (Norway, Vice President) to preside the meetings of the 27th session of the Assembly from 1 to 4 August 2022.

Temporary President

At the opening of each regular session of the Assembly, the President of the previous session or, in his absence, the head of the delegation from which the President of the previous session was elected shall preside until the Assembly has elected a President for the session.

Elections

At the beginning of each regular session the Assembly shall elect its President and four Vice Presidents in such a way as to ensure the representative character of the Bureau. They shall hold office until a new President and other officers are elected at the next regular session.

Acting President

If the President finds it necessary to be absent during a meeting or any part thereof, he shall designate one of the Vice Presidents to take his place.

Powers of the Acting President

A Vice President acting as President shall have the same powers and duties as the President.

Replacement of the President

If the President is unable to perform his functions, a new President shall be elected for the unexpired term.

General powers of the President

In addition to exercising the powers conferred upon him elsewhere by these rules, or by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the President shall declare the opening and closing of each plenary meeting of the session, direct the discussions in plenary meeting, ensure observance of these rules, accord the right to speak, put questions and announce decisions. He shall rule on points of order and, subject to these rules, shall have complete control of the proceedings at any meeting and over the maintenance of order thereat. The President may, in the course of the discussion of an item, propose to the Assembly the limitation of the time to be allowed to speakers, the limitation of the number of times each representative may speak, the closure of the list of speakers or the closure of the debate. He may also propose the suspension or the adjournment of the meeting or the adjournment of the debate on the item under discussion.

Limitation of the powers of the President

The President, in the exercise of his functions, remains under the authority of the Assembly.

Voting of the President and Acting President

The President, or a Vice President acting as President, shall not vote but shall designate another member of his delegation to vote in his place.