Martti Koskenniemi to receive LL.D. at upcoming Law spring convocation ceremony
Ď㽶ĘÓƵ has announced the 16 recipients of honorary doctorates for the upcoming spring convocation. Among them is Professor Martti Koskenniemi, who will be awarded the LL.D. distinction during the Faculty of Law’s convocation ceremony on Thursday, May 28, 2015, at 2 pm.
Martti Koskenniemi is a professor of International Law at the University of Helsinki and the Director of the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights. In his books, including From Apology to Utopia and The Gentle Civilizer of Nations, he has served as both a historian and critic of international law practice, inspiring students and scholars to challenge assumptions widely held through the past century.
“Martti Koskenniemi has pushed the boundaries of international legal scholarship through his theoretical and historical inquiries, and through the penetrating nature of his work,” explains Professor Jaye Ellis. “Not only has he brought a new perspective on international law as a system of rules and as a series of practices, but he has drawn attention to the practice of international legal scholarship itself. His influence on the discipline is enormous and far-reaching.”
“Koskenniemi's critical rereading of international law has moulded the discipline perhaps more than any other scholar in the last 25 years,” adds Professor René Provost, former director of the Centre for human Rights and Legal Pluralism. “His leading a United Nations commission on the fragmentation of international law has guided the development of many international institutions.”
“This award is a testament to Koskenniemi’s influence,” says Professor Frédéric Mégret.“His work has profoundly shaped how questions of international legal argument and the politics of international law are understood.”
