Professional Affiliation

Member, United Nations International Law Commission and Special Adviser, Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs

Expert Bio

Ambassador Rolfe Einar Fife is special adviser at the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. He is a member of the UN International Law Commission (2023-2027) and of the Institut de droit international. He served as ambassador of Norway to the European Union 2019-2023 and as ambassador to France 2014-2019. From 2002 to 2014 he was director general for legal affairs of the Foreign Ministry. He was chief negotiator for the maritime delimitation concluded in 2010 between Norway and the Russian Federation. He was elected chair of the Council of Europe Committee of Legal Advisers on international law (CAHDI) 2009-2010. He has been an arbitrator and is a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. After serving 1984-1985 in the polar administration of the Ministry of Justice he joined the Norwegian diplomatic service, with postings in the Middle East and at the UN in New York. He is a law graduate of the University of Oslo where he also studied the Arabic language. He has been a Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge.