DOMENICO DA EMPOLI OF ITALY, PRESIDENT OF SEABED COUNCIL FOR 2003

DOMENICO DA EMPOLI OF ITALY, PRESIDENT OF SEABED COUNCIL FOR 2003

(Reissued as received.)

KINGSTON, 4 August -- Domenico da Empoli (Italy), who was elected today as President of the Council of the International Seabed Authority at its ninth session (2003) in Kingston, is professor of public finance and public accounting at the University of Rome.

Mr. da Empoli was born in Reggio Calabria on 24 September 1941.  He studied law and economics at the University of Rome, where he remained as assistant professor (1967-1974) after having completed his economic studies at the University of Chicago (1965-1967).  In 1975 Mr. da Empoli was appointed full professor of public finance at the University of Messina.  He then moved to the University of Naples (1979-1983), following which (from 1984 to date) he became a full professor of public finance and public accounting at the University of Rome.

He is the author of various publications, in Italian and in English, on matters of public economy, and is also the editor of the Journal of Public Finance and Public Choice.

In 1979, Mr. da Empoli joined the delegation of Italy to the Third United Nations Conference on the Law of the Sea.  Afterwards, he took part in the proceedings of the Preparatory Commission for the International Seabed Authority and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, as well as in all sessions of the Authority.   He was elected in 1995 to the International Seabed Authority Finance Committee and re-elected in 2001 for another five years.  He has been Chairman of the Committee for the last four years.

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