Nuremberg Academy Lecture 2026
"Does the International Court of Justice have a Criminal Jurisdiction?“
While the International Court of Justice does not possess criminal jurisdiction in the conventional sense—its mandate being confined to disputes between States—it has nonetheless encountered questions of international criminality in ways that reveal a complex and often overlooked dimension of its work. The Nuremberg Academy Lecture 2026, which will be delivered by Judge Hilary Charlesworth, will explore the tension between the Court’s formally limited jurisdiction and its substantive engagement with issues commonly associated with international criminal law. It will examine how such questions reach the Court’s docket through non-traditional avenues, including advisory proceedings, and the challenges that arise from this indirect engagement.
Judge Hilary Charlesworth was re-elected as a Judge of the International Court of Justice on 9 November 2023, having previously been elected on 5 November 2021 to serve the remainder of the late Judge James Crawford’s term. Prior to her election, Judge Charlesworth was Harrison Moore Professor of Law and a Melbourne Laureate Professor at Melbourne Law School. She was also a Distinguished Professor at the Australian National University. Judge Charlesworth has been a visiting professor at various institutions including Harvard Law School, New York University Global Law School, University of California, Los Angeles, Paris I and the London School of Economics. She has been a member of the Executive Council of the Asian Society of International Law and the American Society of International Law as well as President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law. Judge Charlesworth is a member of the Institut de Droit International and the British Academy. She served as Judge ad hoc in the International Court of Justice in the Whaling in the Antarctic case (Australia v Japan) (2011-2014) and in the Arbitral Award of 3 October 1899 case (Guyana v Venezuela) (2019-2021).
The public is invited to attend the lecture free of charge and without prior registration. The lecture willl be video recorded and be available on the Academy’s YouTube channel. The Nuremberg Academy Lecture 2026 is the 5th edition of this lecture series. For more information on the Nuremberg Academy Lectures, including video recordings of past editions, please click here. (km)