Session of Rabat (2025)
The Session of Rabat took place from 24 August until 31 August 2025 at the premises of the Faculty of Law, Economic and Social Sciences Agdal. On 24 August, the Institute was received by the authorities at the Académie du Royaume du Maroc. A welcome message by His Majesty King Mohammed VI of Morocco was addressed to the Institute, followed by statements from the President of the Institute, Mr Mohamed Bennouna and the Secretary-General, Mr Fausto Pocar.
On the agenda of the 82nd session of the Institute were the following agenda items:
Deliberations on the work of the following commissions:
- Third Commission: Harm Prevention Rules Applicable to the Global Commons
- Fourteenth Commission: International Intellectual Property Law and Pandemic Prevention: Access to Medicine, Preparedness and Response
- Fifteenth Commission: Status and Functions of the Conference of the Parties to a Treaty
Updates on the work from the following commissions:
- First Commission: Corruption and Foreign Investments
- Ninth Commission: Human Rights and Cultural Pluralism
- Sixteenth Commission: The Place of Social Justice in International Law
Administrative issues:
- elections Associate and Honorary members
- elections Bureau
- modifications of the Statutes and the Rules
- declarations
- Scott Prize
- other business
The results of the Session are as follows:
Bureau (2025-2027)
President: Mr Santiago TORRES BERNARDEZ
First Vice-President: Mr Antonio REMIRO BROTONS
Second Vice-President: Ms Léna GANNAGE
Third Vice-President: Mr Olufemi ELIAS
Secretary-General: Mr Fausto POCAR
Treasurer: Ms Laurence BOISSON DE CHAZOURNES
President of the Programme Committee: Mr José ALVAREZ
Members
New Honorary Members:
Mr Hisashi OWADA
Mr Santiago TORRES BERNARDEZ
New Titular Members:
Ms Paz ANDRES SAENZ DE SANTA MARIA,
Mr Masahiko ASADA
Ms Samantha BESSON
Mr Philippe COUVREUR
Sir Malcolm EVANS
Ms Patricia GALVAO TELES
Mr Michael KARAYANNI
Mr Chin Leng LIM
Mr Tiyanjana MALUWA
Mr Makane Moïse MBENGUE
Ms Iulia Antoanella MOTOC
Mr Sean MURPHY
Mr Gérard NIYUNGEKO
Mr Fatsah OUGUERGOUZ
Mr Raul PANGALANGAN
Ms Anne PETERS
Mr Sergey PUNZHIN
Ms Hélène RUIZ FABRI
Mr Jean-Marc THOUVENIN
Mr Santiago VILLALPANDO
New Associates:
Mr George Rodrigo BANDEIRA GALINDO
Ms Stefania BARIATTI
Ms Hannah BUXBAUM
Mr Louis D’AVOUT
Ms Cristina GONZALES BEILFUSS
Ms Helen KELLER
Ms Phoebe OKOWA
Ms Anne ORFORD
Mr Hassan OUAZZANI CHAHDI
Mr Charalampos PAMPOUKIS
Mr Mārtiņš PAPARINSKIS
Ms Philippa WEBB
Declaration and Resolutions adopted by the Institute
Declaration
DECLARATION OF RABAT OF THE INSTITUTE OF INTERNATIONAL LAW MARKING THE 80TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS
Resolutions
The following resolutions were adopted in Rabat:
HARM PREVENTION RULES APPLICABLE TO THE ENVIRONMENT OF AREAS BEYOND NATIONAL JURISDICTION
(3rd Commission, Rapporteurs Ms Jutta Brunnée and Mr Nico Schrijver)
INTERNATIONAL INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY LAW AND PANDEMICS: ACCESS TO MEDICINE, PREVENTION, PREPAREDNESS AND RESPONSE
(14th Commission, Rapporteur Mr Edward Kwakwa)
STATUS AND FUNCTIONS OF THE CONFERENCES OR MEETINGS OF PARTIES TO MULTILATERAL ENVIRONMENTAL AGREEMENTS
(15th Commission, Rapporteurs Ms Geneviève Bastid-Burdeau and Ms Malgosia Fitzmaurice)
-> You can find the texts of the Declaration and the Resolutions under “Publications”.
The Institute also adopted modifications to its Statutes and Rules in order to harmonize the texts.
New commissions
- International Environmental Law and the Complementarity between Private and Public International Law
- Freedom of Navigation in the Law of the Sea
- Food in International Law
- Climate Change Obligations and International Investment Law
and furthermore a Commission on the methods of work of the Institute.
Change of title of commissions:
Tenth Commission: Distributive Justice and Sustainable Development -> Distributive Justice and Equity in International Law
Sixteenth Commission: The Place of Social Justice in International Law -> Social Justice in International Law: The Lasting Impact of Colonization
Prizes instituted by J.B. Scott
Carlos Calvo Prize 2025:
The Carlos Calvo Prize 2025 on “The Law of Foreign Investment” was awarded to Mr Mawuto Tossa for his manuscript entitled “L’évolution du régionalisme africain en droit international des investissements: de la communautarisation à la continentalisation”.
Grotius Prize 2027:
The Institute has decided that the Grotius Prize 2027 will focus on the “High Seas”. The deadline for submitting a manuscript in accordance with the Prize Regulations is 31 December 2026.
Next session
In 2027, the 83rd session of the Institute will take place in Spain (city to be confirmed).