About INSTITUT DE DROIT INTERNATIONAL

The Institute of International Law was established in 1873 by a group of distinguished international lawyers. The main objective of the Institute is to promote the progress of International Law and one of the activities undertaken to promote this progress is peaceful settlement of disputes among the states.A proposal of the Institute to this effect was accepted by the first Hague Peace Conference of 1899. The Institute was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1904 for promoting the idea of peaceful settlement of disputes between States as a better alternative to the recourse to war, which was the usual method until then. Since then the Institute has become the premier global Institute for codification and development of international law.
Its membership is offered to persons for their distinguished service to international law and is limited to 132 members. More than three members from the same country would be regarded as a national group. The current membership of the Institute representing nearly 65 countries is composed of distinguished judges, arbitrators, academicians and practitioners associated with settlement of international disputes; and is drawn from such eminent bodies as the International Court of Justice, The Permanent Court of Arbitration, and Arbitral Tribunals dealing with investments, international trade law, land and maritime boundaries as well as river water disputes. A number of them are associated in recent years with settlement of disputes involving India against Bangladesh, Pakistan and now Italy. India currently has three members including self, Professor Yogesh T Tyagi (presently Vice-Chancellor, Delhi University) and Professor B.S. Chimni (J.N.U.).

The tradition of the Institute is to hold its biennial meetings in Europe not only because initially its membership was mostly drawn from Europe but also because of the priority the European states and institutions attach to the codification and development of International Law. It is worth noting that in 147 years of its history, only three times so far it held its meetings outside Europe; and only once in 2013, in Japan, Asia. It is an honor in that regard for the Institute to decide to accept the invitation from the Indian national group over other competing invitations to hold its next session in India. It is also worth noting that it will be the first time in its history that an Indian has been chosen to become its President for the current two-year term beginning 2015. The decision to hold a session in India is a mark of appreciation for India’s major role in International Relations and its significant contribution to codification and development of International Law.

For further details, please refer to IDI.