"This is an occasion to celebrate 60 years of bringing together young lawyers from across the globe and offering them an opportunity to share their curiosity and passion for international law".
Michael Schoiswohl
Reflections of Michael Schoiswohl, Director of the Seminar (2025-2026)
Michael Schoiswohl was the Director of the International Law Seminar and Senior Legal Adviser for UNOG from 2025 to 2026. Previously, he has held various positions within the United Nations, including at the Office of the Legal Counsel, Office of Legal Affairs (United Nations Headquarters), the Department of Legal Affairs of UNRWA, UNEP, UNAMA, and UNDP. He holds a Doctorate in public international law and a law degree from the University of Vienna, and obtained a LL.M. in international legal studies as a Fulbright scholar at NYU.
"It is a privilege to introduce the webpage marking the 60th anniversary of the International Law Seminar, which the United Nations Office at Geneva convenes each year in connection with the sessions of the International Law Commission in accordance with relevant resolutions of the United Nations General Assembly.
This is an occasion to celebrate 60 years of bringing together young lawyers from across the globe and offering them an opportunity to share their curiosity and passion for international law, enhance their understanding of the work of the International Law Commission and engage with the Commission on topics under its consideration. As its unique feature, distinguishing it from other international law programmes, the Seminar is and remains inextricably linked to the Commission and its members, many of whom have themselves participated in the Seminar. We owe all our gratitude to the International Law Commission and its members over the years for their passion for and commitment to the Seminar.
Celebrating 60 years of the Seminar means celebrating 1,397 participants, with their distinct careers and experiences, and honoring those whose efforts and dedication have shaped the Seminar and made it an invaluable and unique experience for generations of international lawyers. Each participant will have different perspectives and reflections on what the Seminar has meant for them; the same will be the case for those who have contributed to the Seminar’s success, either as organizers, presenters, assistants or in any other fashion. Collectively, they have been the life and soul of the Seminar. This project seeks to illustrate the value and impact of the Seminar through their recollections and stories.
The testimonies presented herein can only offer a glimpse into the rich history of the Seminar and its significance to those involved and, perhaps, beyond. We hope that reading it will be as meaningful and commemorative as the process of compiling these materials has been for those involved.
Many deserve extensive credits or their past and current involvement in the Seminar. On behalf of several generations of Senior Legal Advisers at the Office of the Director General of the United Nations Office at Geneva I wish to thank the current and past members of the International Law Commission for their generosity in making themselves available for the Seminar; their involvement and support is at the heart of what has been making the Seminar a unique experience for those privileged to participate. We are also indebted to Vittorio Mainetti of the University of Milan, who has served as the Coordinator of the Seminar since 2006.
The success of the Seminar is not only linked to the extensive preparations that go into it each year, but also the financial generosity of UN Member States. Without their contributions to the UN trust fund, it would not be possible to organize the Seminar and to offer stipends to eligible participants. A list of donors is available on the dedicated page and we wish to encourage other UN Member States to consider making financial contributions in support of the Seminar.
Finally, we owe deep gratitude to everyone who has shared reflections, stories and materials for this project. Their contributions are giving true meaning to this commemoration. We hope that they offer an inspiration to strengthen our collective commitment to the Seminar and perhaps also the promotion of international law more broadly. We look forward to maintaining the Seminar’s tradition, to keep working on its evolution to meet the needs of the 21st century and continuing its mission for the benefit of future generations of international lawyers."
Reflections of Markus G. Schmidt DPhil, Director of the Seminar (2010-2023)
"I had the privilege of directing the International Law Seminar from 2010 to 2023. For several reasons, it was a rewarding experience.
Firstly, the ILS rekindled my interest in public international law, after having dealt with exclusively, for more than two decades, with international human rights law and UN human rights mechanisms. The ILS prompted me to reconnect with the agenda of the International Law Commission and the topics it was debating at the time. One particular ILC topic was chosen each year to be studied in two ILS working groups, each of whom delivered its report on the topic to the ILS plenary at the end of the seminar.
Secondly, the ILS enabled me to get to know, year after year, some 25 to 30 practitioners of a new generation of international lawyers, active in either academia or government service, from a multitude of legal backgrounds. My discussions with ILS participants were always stimulating, at times provocative. I enjoyed following the debates between the participants and members of the ILC who addressed the participants on ILC topics - depending on the subject and the approach taken by the ILC expert, the debates after the presentation were lively if not at times polemic, testimony to the different legal backgrounds of the participants.
For many years now, the ILS has served as a generator of networking among a new generation of international lawyers. The ILS set up an alumni network in July 2018, which enables former and current participants to exchange views, professional experiences, and also serves as a discussion forum for topical issues of international law. Some former participants have subsequently become ambassadors for their country, or even members of the ILC.
Networking among young international lawyers with converging or at least compatible perceptions of the state of international law is particularly important in the context of an increasingly fragmented international system and growing challenges to international law, in a world in which an increasing number of states openly or covertly flout principles of international law and international humanitarian law - and justify their actions with questionable legal arguments. Past sessions of the ILS have, and I personally regret this, somewhat shirked the current muddy waters in which international law navigates, and perhaps future sessions of the ILS - and perhaps the ILC as well - should address current challenges to international law more openly.
Funding of the ILS is based entirely on voluntary contributions of UN member states. A sizeable number of them have made contributions to the ILS Trust Fund, and some do so on an annual basis, thereby enabling the UN to award scholarships and travel allowances - moderate at that - to seminar participants from developing countries. Such voluntary contributions have decreased recently, and it is my fervent hope that they will resume and secure a sound financial basis for the seminar.
A final word of thanks goes to my former colleagues in the Legal Office of the UN Office at Geneva and in particularly Vinuon In and legal interns, and to the seminar coordinator, Vittorio Mainetti, who work quietly but efficiently behind the scenes to organize and help conduct the seminar. Without them, the seminar would simply not be what it is today."
Reflections of Vittorio Mainetti, Coordinator of the Seminar (2006-2026)
Vittorio Mainetti is the Coordinator of the International Law Seminar since 2006. He has a PhD in Public International Law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, in Geneva and the University of Milan. He is currently teaching international law and international organizations law at the University of Milan, as an adjunct professor. He was a visiting lecturer in several universities in France, Switzerland, Italy and Spain. He is the author of several scientific publications on various international law issues. LinkedIn - Academia.edu
"Every summer in Geneva, a new group of young international lawyers arrives from all regions of the world, bringing with them their curiosity, their intellectual energy, and their diverse legal traditions. Within a few days, strangers become colleagues, and colleagues often become friends. What begins as an academic programme quickly becomes something more: a shared human experience built around a common passion for international law. It is in this spirit that the International Law Seminar has brought together generations of young international lawyers for the past sixty years, forming a truly global community of jurists committed to the study and practice of international law. Of these sixty years of the Seminar’s history, I have had the privilege of witnessing nearly one third. Since 2006, I have coordinated eighteen sessions of the programme, during which 470 participants representing 119 countries have taken part in the Seminar. Each session has been different, yet each has shared the same spirit: intellectual curiosity, openness to dialogue, and a genuine commitment to international law.
Looking back over these years, what strikes me most is the extraordinary generosity of all those who have contributed to the life of the Seminar. The Seminar would not exist without the many individuals who have ensured its continuity over the years, often with great discretion. I have been particularly fortunate to work with several Directors whose commitment and personal qualities have profoundly shaped my own experience of the programme. Ulrich von Blumenthal was the one who first introduced me to the Seminar. He transmitted to me his deep attachment to the Seminar and taught me to cultivate it not simply as an institutional programme, but as a remarkable human adventure. Markus Schmidt, who succeeded him, placed great trust in me and gave me the freedom to develop the Seminar in my own way, while always offering wise guidance and steady support. More recently, Michael Schoiswohl has shown the same confidence from the outset, encouraging me not only to continue the Seminar’s traditions, but also to step beyond the familiar paths and to dare when circumstances required it. Looking back, I realize how fortunate I have been to work with people of such generosity, intelligence and commitment.
The history of the Seminar is also closely intertwined with the contributions of many members of the International Law Commission who have generously devoted their time and energy to engaging with participants. Some of those colleagues are sadly no longer with us. Among them, I remember with particular gratitude prof. Concepción Escobar Hernández and prof. Paula Escarameia, whose intellectual generosity and personal commitment to the Seminar left a lasting impression on many participants. Yet the list of those who have contributed to the programme over the years is far too long to be mentioned here, and the Seminar owes a profound debt of gratitude to all of them.
Ultimately, however, the true legacy of the International Law Seminar lies in its participants. Over the years, many former participants have gone on to pursue remarkable careers in the field of international law. Today they serve as ambassadors, legal advisers in ministries of foreign affairs, officials in international organizations, members of international committees, judges in international tribunals, or professors of international law in universities around the world. For many young jurists specializing in international law, participation in the Seminar has become an important milestone in their professional journey.
For me personally, one of the most rewarding aspects of coordinating the Seminar has been to remain in contact with many of them. With some, exchanges have continued over the years, evolving from professional contacts into lasting friendships. They have become part of what I like to call my “international law family.”
In recent years, this sense of community has also taken a more structured form with the creation of the International Law Seminar Academic Network, which brings together former participants of the programme and seeks to maintain and strengthen the connections among those who have shared the experience of the Seminar and who continue, in different capacities and in different parts of the world, to contribute to the development and practice of international law.
As the Seminar celebrates its sixtieth anniversary, it becomes clear that its greatest strength lies not only in the knowledge it transmits, but also in the community it creates a community that spans continents, institutions and generations.
In a world where international law faces increasingly complex challenges, spaces such as the International Law Seminar remain essential. They foster dialogue, mutual understanding and cooperation among future generations of international lawyers. And perhaps that is the most meaningful legacy of the Seminar: the conviction that international law is not only a body of rules and institutions, but also a language that allows us to understand one another and to work together beyond borders."
