The Hague Academy of International Law - 2024 Centre for Studies and Research

Through this programme, the Academy aims to make an additional contribution to the study of international law. Taking part in the Centre provides participants with the opportunity to contribute to an in-depth legal analysis of topics that have caught the attention of the international community, and to add a prestigious publication to their names – something that is particularly relevant for those who (intend to) pursue an academic career.

NB: There won’t be a 2023 edition of the Centre. Registrations for the 2024 edition will open on April 1st, 2023.

Candidates wishing to apply for the Centre should upload the following documents to the online registration form:

• A copy of your valid passport or ID;
• An identity photograph;
• A copy of your highest degree certificate or an official document from your university certifying that you are preparing to obtain a degree (official transcripts are accepted as well). If the original document isn’t in English or French, please add a translation. You can translate the document into English or French yourself, as long as you add a sworn statement to it, certifying its accuracy and adding the date, place, your name and signature;
• A curriculum vitae with, if applicable, a list of publications;
• A short letter giving reasons for the application (1-2 pages);
• A recommendation letter from a professor of international law.

About The Hague Academy of International Law

In the context of the movement for the establishment of peace through law, the idea of creating an Academy of International Law was raised at the Hague Conference of 1907. The Dutch lawyer Tobias Michael Carel Asser proposed a plan that envisaged more or less what the Academy was eventually to become, with courses held from July to October.

Asser was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1911 and affected a part of the prize money to the Academy, while the Carnegie Endowment for Peace provided a most valuable contribution to its construction at the Peace Palace in the immediate vicinity of the International Court of Justice and the Permanent Court of Arbitration. The inauguration of the Academy was initially scheduled for October 1914 but due to the war it had to be postponed and the first courses could only take place in 1923.

The Academy is a centre for teaching and research in public and private international law, with the aim of furthering the scientific study of the legal aspects of international relations. The United Nations General Assembly regularly expresses its appreciation “to the Hague Academy of International Law for the valuable contribution it continues to make to the Programme of Assistance, which has enabled candidates under the International Law Fellowship Programme to attend and participate in the Fellowship Programme in conjunction with courses at the Academy” and notes “the contributions of the Hague Academy to the teaching, study, dissemination and wider appreciation of international law, and calls upon Member States and interested organizations to give favourable consideration to the appeal of the Academy for a continuation of support and a possible increase in their financial contributions, to enable the Academy to carry out its activities, particularly those relating to the Summer and Winter Courses, regional courses and programmes of the Centre for Studies and Research in International Law and International relations” (cfr. A/RES/76/110, paras. 24 and 25 of 9 December 2021).

The Academy therefore is not a university and doesn’t function in the same way. Since it doesn’t have a permanent teaching staff at its disposal, the Curatorium calls upon academics, practitioners, diplomats, and other personalities whom it considers qualified to give courses, in either English or French (with simultaneous interpretation).