The Ambassador

Arif Havas Oegroseno was called to the confirmation hearing before the Indonesian Parliament on his appointment as the Ambassador of the Republic of Indonesia to the Kingdom of Belgium, the Grand-Duchy of Luxembourg and the European Union in September on 3 May 2010. His appointment was confirmed and later inducted at Presidential Palace by the President of the Republic of Indonesia on 10 August 2010. He arrived in Brussels on 15 September 2010.

 

He is a career diplomat who serves diplomatic service for 25 years already. Prior to assuming his Ambassadorial post in Brussels, he was assigned in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs since February 2003 in the Directorate-General for Legal and International Treaty Affairs as Director for Political, Security and Territorial Affairs from 2003 – 2007 and promoted as Director-General for Legal and International Treaty Affairs.

During his tenure, he was chief negotiator for numerous bilateral and regional negotiations, including Indonesian maritime boundaries, mutual legal assistance in criminal matters and extradition negotiations. He led the landmark negotiation of Indonesia-Australia Security Framework Agreement that was already ratified by both Indonesian and Australian parliaments. He was the Indonesian High Level Legal Expert of ASEAN Charter, assigned with other ASEAN High Level Legal Experts to conclude the ASEAN Dispute Settlement Mechanisms.

He led numerous multilateral negotiations in the United Nations forum. He was the Head of Indonesian Delegation on the Submission of the Outer Limit of Indonesian Continental Shelf to the Commission on the Limit of Continental Shelf of the Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982. He was elected by the State Parties of UNCLOS 1982 as the President to the State Parties of the 20th Conference of the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982 for the period of 2010-2011.

He was a member of Indonesian Asset Recovery Task Force assigned to track, freeze and return proceeds of corruption stashed in Europe and other jurisdictions. He was also a member of Intellectual Property Rights National Task Force.

On his personal capacity, he was appointed by the President of the Republic of Indonesia as member of fact-finding team of the death of an Indonesian human rights activist. He was also appointed as the chief legal defense for Indonesia in an antitrust litigation mounted by American companies. Indonesia won the litigation. He provided legal counsel to numerous Indonesian companies that is partly owned by the Government in litigation in the United States and European courts.

He wrote numerous op-ed articles in local media as well as International Herald Tribune and spoke in numerous national, regional and international conferences, including speaking before the special commemorative event of International Law Commission entitled "The International Law Commission: Sixty Years: And Now", on the occasion of the sixtieth anniversary of the International Law Commission. His diplomatic assignments include postings at the Indonesian Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva, Switzerland from 1993 to 1997 and Indonesian Embassy in Lisbon from 1999 to 2002. He reopened the Indonesian Embassy in Lisbon after closure for 24 years.

He read law at Diponegoro Univesity in Semarang, Indonesia and Harvard Law School. He participated in numerous courses, including the World Bank – Harvard Institute for International Development Human Resources Development Centre, Australian Foreign Service Course, Boundaries Negotiation at International Boundary Research Unit of Durham University and Program on Negotiation at Harvard Law School.

Ambassador Oegroseno is married to Sartika Oegroseno. They are blessed with two children, Faiz and Nabila.