Professor Emerita, University of Geneva
CIDS Council Director
Former MIDS Director
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes is an academic and a practitioner in the field of international law. She is a Member of the Institute of International Law and a Member of the Curatorium of the Hague Academy of International Law. She is recognized for her role as an advisor to international organizations, states, and companies, as well as an arbitrator, counsel and advocate in various dispute settlement fora. Following her career as Senior Counsel to the World Bank (1995 - 1999), she has been a professor at the Law Faculty of the University of Geneva and was the Head of the Department of Public International Law and International Organization (1999 - 2009). She has been and is a visiting professor at the University of Aix-Marseille III, the University of Paris I (Sorbonne), the University of Paris II (Panthéon-Assas), the National University of Singapore (NUS), and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies. She has been invited as a guest lecturer at numerous universities in Europe, North America, Latin America, Africa and Asia.
In the field of dispute settlement, Laurence Boisson de Chazournes has served as chairperson of WTO arbitration panels on pre-shipment inspections and as arbitrator for the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). She was a member of the CAS ad hoc Division at the Winter Olympic Games in PyeongChang (2018). She is a judge at the Administrative Tribunal of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS).
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes is a member of the of the Panel of Arbitrators of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Moreover, she is also a member of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Center and of the list of Arbitrators of the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). She has acted as Advocate and Counsel before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) and other dispute settlement fora. She is a member of the PCA, a member of the WTO indicative list of governmental and non-governmental panelists, an arbitrator of the CAS and a Member of the lists of Arbitrators of the Swiss and the French National Committees (ICC).
Laurence Boisson de Chazournes has been and is a member of many editorial and advisory boards, including those of the American Journal of International Law, the European Journal of International Law, the International Organizations Law Review and the Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals. She was President of the European Society of International Law (ESIL) between 2012 and 2014 and was co-chair for the 2013 Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law. In addition to the Institute of International Law (IDI), she is a member of a number of other scientific associations. She directs research projects funded by Swiss, French and international agencies. She has authored and edited thirty-one books and has written over 270 articles and contributions to edited volumes.
She holds a PhD in International Law from the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva (Summa Cum Laude), a JD in Private Law from the University of Lyon III, a BA in Sociology from the University of Lyon II and a Diploma in Political Science from the Institute of Political Sciences (Lyon). She took the French national bar exam in 1981. She received the Elizabeth Haub Prize for Environmental Law in 2008 and a Docteur honoris causa from Aix-Marseille University in 2014.
Nationality
France
Switzerland
Working languages
English
French
Spanish
Areas of Expertise
International Dispute Settlement
International Arbitration
International Law