New Composition of the Geneva Academy Board

18 September 2024

Christian Bovet, the new president of our board and honorary professor of law at the University of Geneva, was recently welcomed at Villa Moynier by the executive committee led by Director Paola Gaeta. Professor Bovet was the dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Geneva when the Geneva Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights was founded and has closely followed its development ever since.

‘As a joint centre of the Geneva Graduate Institute and the Faculty of Law of the University of Geneva, the Academy of International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights has become a leading institution in these fields of law that face constant challenges. I am honoured to serve as president of its board, with the firm intent to build on the institution’s renowned legacy,’ he said.

Christian Bovet is an honorary professor at the Faculty of Law at the University of Geneva, where he served as dean from 2007 to 2012. Prior to joining the faculty in 1998, he practised law for several years as a partner in a Geneva business law firm. He received an LL.M. degree from Columbia Law School (New York) in 1988 and worked for over a year as a foreign associate with the New York office of Debevoise & Plimpton. He was appointed to the Swiss telecommunications regulator (ComCom) in 1999 and served as its vice-chairman from 2005 to 2011. Between 2009 and 2011, he co-chaired the working group responsible for proposing amendments to Swiss competition law. He currently chairs the Société académique de Genève and was previously the president of the council of the Walther Hug Foundation, which annually rewards the best Swiss doctoral theses in law and periodically honours outstanding law professors. He sits on the editorial board of the international journal Concurrences and is the vice-chairman of the board of BNP Paribas (Switzerland) SA.

Our new president is accompanied by several new members of the Geneva Academy Board, with the current composition as follows:

Christian Bovet
President of the Board and Honorary Professor of Law at the University of Geneva

Vincent Chetail
Professor of International Law at the Geneva Graduate Institute

Madeline Garlick
Chief of the Protection Policy and Legal Advice Section, UN High Commissioner for Refugees

Maya Hertig Randall
Professor of Constitutional Law and Director of the Department of Public Law at the University of Geneva

Alexis Keller
Professor of Legal Philosophy and Head of the Department of Legal History at the University of Geneva Law Faculty

Nico Krisch
Professor of International Law and Head of the International Law Department
at the Geneva Graduate Institute

Etienne Kuster
Senior Adviser for Relations with Academic Circles, International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC)

Andreas Ziegler
Professor of International Law at the University of Lausanne

MORE ON THIS THEMATIC AREA

Red Square News

New Research Brief Highlights Complexitites of Engaging Russia in a Fractured Multilateral Order

16 September 2024

In our latest research brief, Beyond Power and Politics: Engaging Russia in a Fractured Multilateral Order, examines the role of and pathways towards accountability for Russia’s human rights violations.

Read more

Geneva Academy News

New Composition of the Geneva Academy Board

18 September 2024

The Geneva Academy’s Board has been recomposed with Professor Christian Bovet as the new president, who was recently welcomed at Villa Moynier by the executive committee.

Read more

Portrait of Ambassador Jürg Lauber Event

Opening Lecture by Ambassador Jürg Lauber

19 February 2025, 18:00-21:00

The opening lecture of the 2025 Spring Semester will be given by Ambassador Jürg Lauber, President of the Human Rights Council and the Permanent Representative of Switzerland to the United Nations.

Read more

Women in International Law Event

Gender in Investigating and Documenting International Crimes

6 March 2025, 18:00-20:00

This event, co-organized with the ATLAS network, seeks to critically examine how international crimes are investigated, documented, and prosecuted through a gender-competent lens.

Read more

Open dump Training

Protecting Human Rights and the Environment

15-19 September 2025

Participants in this training course will gain practical insights into UN human rights mechanisms and their role in environmental protection and learn about how to address the interplay between international human rights and environmental law, and explore environmental litigation paths.

Read more

Asian workers working at technology production factory with industrial machines Training

Business and Human Rights

19-23 May 2025

This training course will examine how the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights have been utilized to advance the concept of business respect for human rights throughout the UN system, the impact of the Guiding Principles on other international organizations, as well as the impact of standards and guidance developed by these different bodies.

Read more

Panel Discussion: Project

Treaty Body Members’ Platform

Started in January 2014

The Treaty Body Members’ Platform connects experts in UN treaty bodies with each other as well as with Geneva-based practitioners, academics and diplomats to share expertise, exchange views on topical questions and develop synergies.

Read more

Neutrotechology Project

Neurotechnology and Human Rights

Started in August 2023

This project addresses the human rights implications stemming from the development of neurotechnology for commercial, non-therapeutic ends, and is based on a partnership between the Geneva Academy, the Geneva University Neurocentre and the UN Human Rights Council Advisory Committee. 

Read more

Cover Page of Research Brief Publication

War on Minorities’ Under the Guise of Countering Terrorism and Violent Extremism

published on December 2024

Beatrice Meretti

Read more

Cover Page of Research Brief Publication

Navigating Pathways Toward Transitional Justice in Ukraine

published on October 2024

Robin van der Lugt, Chhime Namdol Sherpa

Read more