“Contemporary Constraints on the Waging of War: A Tribute to Prof. Frits Kalshoven”

The T.M.C. Asser Instituut’s International Humanitarian and Criminal Law (IHCL) Platform,The Hague Initiative for Law and Armed Conflict (HILAC) and the Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum on International Humanitarian Law (KGF Leiden) will organise a lecture to commemorate both the work and life of Prof.  Frits Kalshoven, who passed away on 6 September 2017 at the age of 93.

Frits Kalshoven was Professor Emeritus of Public International Law and of International Humanitarian Law at Leiden University and can safely be positioned within the international humanitarian law’s hall of fame, as he was instrumental in the development of this important field of law. The theme of belligerent reprisals cannot be studied without consulting his 1971 PhD, reprinted in 2005; he was one of the drafters of the 1977 Additional Protocols; in January 1987, Alexandre Hay, the then President of the International Committee of the Red Cross, correctly predicted in his preface to the first edition of Frits’ book Constraints on the Waging of War, that “it will become one of the classics of the law of armed conflicts”; he was the first Chairman of the UN Commission of Experts to investigate serious violations of international humanitarian law in the former Yugoslavia, which paved the way for the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia; and in 2003, Frits Kalshoven was awarded the Henry Dunant Medal of the International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement for his continued effort to improve the knowledge of and respect for the law of war. 

About the speakers:

 -        Dr. Robert Heinsch, Associate Professor of Public International Law at the Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies of Leiden University and Director of the Kalshoven-Gieskes Forum on International Humanitarian Law, will provide a general overview of the work and life of Frits Kalshoven

-        Prof. Liesbeth Zegveld, Professor of War Reparations at the University of Amsterdam and co-author of the book Constraints on the Waging of War, will provide a more personal reflection on her cooperation with Frits Kalshoven

-        Prof. Christopher Greenwood, Judge at the International Court of Justice, will speak on the topic on belligerent reprisals and the influence of Frits Kalshoven on his field of law.

Registration:

Registration for this event is mandatory, as a limited number of seats are available.
Please use the register button at the top of the page.
Seats are available on a first-come-first-served basis.

For inquiries, please contact conferencemanager@asser.nl