Prof. Doswald-Beck was elected to the Commission in November 2003 and to the ICJ's Executive Committee in April 2004. Prof. Doswald-Beck previously served as Secretary General of the ICJ from March 2001 to August 2003.

Since September 2003, Prof. Doswald-Beck has been the Director of the Centre for International Humanitarian Law of the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva.

From 1987 to 2001, Prof. Doswald-Beck worked with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), Geneva. As Head of the Legal Division, she had lead responsibility for the development of ICRC's policy directions regarding international humanitarian law, human rights law, disarmament and arms control law.

During her time with the ICRC, Prof. Doswald-Beck was instrumental in lobbying for the creation of the International Criminal Court, through the negotiation of the Rome Statute and in particular, the drafting of the Elements of Crimes and the Rules of Procedure. She has worked hard for the adoption of various instruments of international humanitarian law, including the Ottawa treaty banning anti-personnel landmines and a pre-emptive treaty banning blinding laser weapons.

During her academic career, Prof. Doswald-Beck was a Lecturer in Law at University College, London for four years, where in addition to teaching LLM courses on the International Protection of Human Rights and International Law of Armed Conflict and the Use of Force, she also created a new course on General International Law. Previously she lectured on Public International Law at the University of Exeter for two years.

Prof. Doswald-Beck qualified as a barrister and holds an LLM in International Law from the University of London and her LLB from the University of Bristol.