The Hague Academy of International Law
The Hague Academy of International Law (French: Académie de droit international de La Haye) is a center for high-level education in both public and private international law housed in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands. Courses are taught in English and French and, except for External Programme Courses, are held in the Peace Palace.
Established
1923
The academy is notable for its Summer Courses Programme. The academy's alumni, faculty, and administration have included heads of state; foreign ministers; ambassadors; 12 judges of the International Court of Justice; one former secretary-general of the United Nations, Boutros Boutros-Ghali; and two Nobel Prize recipients.
The structure of the academy[edit]
The Curatorium[edit]
The academy's academic activities and policies are defined by the Curatorium. It consists of members of different nationalities, who are well known in the academic or diplomatic worlds, or practising international lawyers. The president of the Curatorium is a distinguished jurist who generally has extensive experience of international and diplomatic life. Among the most recent presidents have been Roberto Ago, Nicolas Valticos and Boutros Boutros-Ghali.
President
Yves Daudet,[5] Secretary General of the academy Curatorium and professor emeritus at the University Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne), was appointed following the death of the Curatorium President and Former Secretary-General of the United Nations Boutros Boutros-Ghali on 16 February 2016.
Vice-President
Erik Jayme,[6] Professor Emeritus at the Institute for Foreign and International Private and Commercial Law, Heidelberg;
Members
Programmes[edit]
Summer Courses[edit]
The Summer Courses of the academy are held in July (Public International Law[10]) and August (Private International Law[11]); each session lasts three weeks. The academy is not a University: it does not have a permanent teaching staff, but its scientific body, the Curatorium, freely calls upon academics, practitioners, diplomats, and other personalities from all over the world whom it considers qualified to give courses, in English or French (with simultaneous interpretation). These courses are given in the form of a series of lectures, on general or special subjects. In principle, the courses are then published in the Collected Courses of the Academy of International Law, which now run to more than 360 volumes and are among the most important encyclopaedic publications on private and public international law.
The Summer programme is directed to advanced students and practitioners seeking a deeper understanding of international law, public or private. The summer courses are open to candidates who have completed at least four years of studying at university, including subjects of international law, and who can prove to the Curatorium that they possess a sufficient knowledge of the subject; to candidates holding a 3-year law degree at the opening of the session of the academy. All candidates must master one of the two working languages (French or English). A merit-based scholarship program allows approximately 20% of the students to receive assistance from public and private funding sources.[12][13] Each year, attendees representing between 80 and 100 nationalities participate.[14]
Centre for Studies and Research in International Law and International Relations[edit]
Since 1957,[15] the Centre for Research is open, for three weeks from mid-August, to persons undertaking high-level research, working under the direction of professors who are highly qualified in the particular subject being studied, with the best results of the work being published in the academy's collection. There are between 20 and 24 participants, half in the English-speaking section and half in the French-speaking section.[16]
Topics:
Academy diploma[edit]
The Hague Academy of International Law awards a high-level diploma for students who already have a thorough knowledge of international law and who pass an examination in either public international law or private international law.[19] Few Diplomas are awarded each year, the examination being highly selective.[20]
Doctoral scholarships[edit]
The academy awards each year four doctoral scholarships. The beneficiaries stay for two months (July and August) in The Hague to pursue their doctoral researches. They can access the Peace Palace Library and attend the Summer Courses.[21] The candidates should come from a developing country and live there, their doctoral thesis should be in the process of completion.
Publications[edit]
Since 1923, all courses given at the academy are, in principle, published in the language in which they were delivered in the Collected Courses of the Hague Academy of International Law (in French: Recueil des cours de l'Académie de droit international de La Haye).[22] All the volumes of the Collected Courses which have been published since 1923 are available, since the very first volume (green binder), also in electronic format and paperback books[23] for some courses. The series The Hague Academy of International Law Monographs, proposes revised and updated versions of certain courses given during the Summer programme. The scientific works of the Centre, have been published, since the Centre's 1985 session, in a publication in which the Directors of Studies report on the state of research of the Centre under their direction. When the work of the Centre has been of particular interest and originality, the reports of the Directors of Studies together with the articles by the researchers form the subject of a collection published in the series The Law Books of the Academy.[24] The academy organizes Colloquia which works are published in the Law Books of the Academy series.
Within the framework of a small working group, the Colloquia bring together specialists on a chosen subject from various countries of the world. The main objective of the colloquia—other than that of bringing together academics, diplomats and practitioners who have a common interest and knowledge of a specific theme—is to gather knowledge in that subject into a publication of high academic standard in the Legal Publications of the Academy series.[25] A wide variety of topics have been covered: