Portuguese jurist Miguel de Serpa Soares is the new Under-Secretary-General for Legal Affairs and United Nations Legal Counsel appointed by the UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, according to the UN News Centre.Mr Serpa Soares has served as the Director General of the Department of Legal Affairs in Portugal’s Foreign Ministry since 2008 and has also been a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, Judge of the Portuguese University Moot Court of International Law and acted as Legal Adviser to the Permanent Representation of Portugal to the European Union. He has represented Portugal in various international forums, including the Sixth Committee of the UN General Assembly, the Committee of Public Law Legal Advisers of the Council of Europe and the International Criminal Court’s Assembly of States Parties.