Frits Bontekoe
Frits Bontekoe
Frits Bontekoe is a senior legal counsel with over 30 years of experience advising international organizations on strategy, oversight, and public international law, with expertise in structural realignment and regulatory reform. He serves as Board Member of The Earth Foundation in Geneva and Executive Counsel Member of the American Society of International Law, and holds an adjunct professorship at Luiss Guido Carli University, specializing in intellectual property dispute resolution. Until 2023, Mr. Bontekoe served as Legal Counsel for the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) in Geneva, directing the Office of the Legal Counsel and providing strategic legal advice on constitutional, administrative, and institutional matters. Previously, he was Principal Legal Adviser at UNHCR, advising senior leadership on governance and legal matters while managing UN tribunal litigation, and General Counsel at the International Development Law Organization, focusing on governance, compliance, and post-conflict operations. Mr. Bontekoe dedicated over 12 years to UN peacekeeping operations, serving as Principal Officer at UN headquarters overseeing East Africa peacekeeping operations, and as Senior Legal Adviser in field missions across Sudan, Ethiopia/Eritrea, Lebanon, Iraq/Kuwait, Angola, the former Yugoslavia, and Mozambique, negotiating agreements and participating in border and peace negotiations. He began his career in private practice in New York. Admitted to the New York State Bar in 1988, he holds law degrees from the University of Amsterdam and Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, and is fluent in Dutch and English with conversational French and German.