Captain J Ashley Roach, JAGC, US Navy (retired) was an attorney adviser in the Office of the Legal Adviser, US Department of State, from 1988 until he retired at the end of January 2009. He was responsible for law of the sea matters. He has taught, advised and published extensively on national maritime claims and other law of the sea issues, including piracy and armed robbery at sea. He has negotiated, and participated in the negotiation of, numerous international agreements involving law of the sea issues. He received his LLM (highest honours in public international law and comparative law) from the George Washington University School of Law in 1971 and his JD from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 1963.
