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Martti Antero Koskenniemi (born 18 March 1953) is a Finnish international lawyer and former
diplomat A diplomat (from ; romanization, romanized ''diploma'') is a person appointed by a state (polity), state, International organization, intergovernmental, or Non-governmental organization, nongovernmental institution to conduct diplomacy with one ...
. Currently he is professor of International Law in the
University of Helsinki The University of Helsinki (, ; UH) is a public university in Helsinki, Finland. The university was founded in Turku in 1640 as the Royal Academy of Åbo under the Swedish Empire, and moved to Helsinki in 1828 under the sponsorship of Alexander ...
and Director of the Erik Castrén Institute of International Law and Human Rights, as well as Centennial Professor at the Law Department of the
London School of Economics The London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), established in 1895, is a public research university in London, England, and a member institution of the University of London. The school specialises in the social sciences. Founded ...
. He is well known for his
critical Critical or Critically may refer to: *Critical, or critical but stable, medical states **Critical, or intensive care medicine * Critical juncture, a discontinuous change studied in the social sciences. *Critical Software, a company specializing i ...
approach to
international law International law, also known as public international law and the law of nations, is the set of Rule of law, rules, norms, Customary law, legal customs and standards that State (polity), states and other actors feel an obligation to, and generall ...
. In 2008–2009 he held the seat of distinguished visiting Goodhart Professor at the Faculty of Law,
Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
. In 2011 Koskenniemi was
Peace of Utrecht The Peace of Utrecht was a series of peace treaty, peace treaties signed by the belligerents in the War of the Spanish Succession, in the Dutch city of Utrecht between April 1713 and February 1715. The war involved three contenders for the vac ...
professor at Utrecht University. In 2014 he was elected a
Corresponding Fellow of the British Academy Fellowship of the British Academy (post-nominal letters FBA) is an award granted by the British Academy to leading academics for their distinction in the humanities and social sciences. The categories are: # Fellows – scholars resident in t ...
. Koskenniemi is currently serving as an Academy Professor for the Academy of Finland. Previously he has been Global Professor of Law in the
New York University New York University (NYU) is a private university, private research university in New York City, New York, United States. Chartered in 1831 by the New York State Legislature, NYU was founded in 1832 by Albert Gallatin as a Nondenominational ...
, and a member of the
International Law Commission The International Law Commission (ILC) is a body of experts responsible for helping develop and codify international law. It is composed of 34 individuals recognized for their expertise and qualifications in international law, who are elected by t ...
(2002–2006). He served in the Finnish
Diplomatic Service Diplomatic service is the body of diplomats and foreign policy officers maintained by the government of a country to communicate with the governments of other countries. Diplomatic personnel obtain diplomatic immunity when they are accredited to o ...
in the years 1978–1996, lastly as director of the Division of International Law. He was Finland's counsel in the
International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; , CIJ), or colloquially the World Court, is the only international court that Adjudication, adjudicates general disputes between nations, and gives advisory opinions on International law, internation ...
in the '' Passage through the Great Belt case'' (''Finland v. Denmark'') (1991–1992). From 1997 to 2003 he served as a judge in the administrative tribunal of the
Asian Development Bank The Asian Development Bank (ADB) is a regional development bank to promote social and economic development in Asia. The bank is headquartered in Metro Manila, Philippines and maintains 31 field offices around the world. The bank was establishe ...
. He is a member of the Institut de droit international.


Writings

* ''From Apology to Utopia; The Structure of International Legal Argument'' (first published 1989, reissued in 2006; ) presents a critical view of international law as an argumentative practice that attempts to remove the political from
international relations International relations (IR, and also referred to as international studies, international politics, or international affairs) is an academic discipline. In a broader sense, the study of IR, in addition to multilateral relations, concerns al ...
. It asserts that international law is vulnerable to criticisms of being either an irrelevant moralist
utopia A utopia ( ) typically describes an imagined community or society that possesses highly desirable or near-perfect qualities for its members. It was coined by Sir Thomas More for his 1516 book ''Utopia (book), Utopia'', which describes a fictiona ...
or an apology for
Realpolitik ''Realpolitik'' ( ; ) is the approach of conducting diplomatic or political policies based primarily on considerations of given circumstances and factors, rather than strictly following ideological, moral, or ethical premises. In this respect, ...
. * ''The Gentle Civilizer of Nations: The Rise and Fall of International Law 1870–1960'' (2001; ) has two agendas. The first of these is to develop an intellectual history of international law, and to offer a critique of that history. The second is to offer a sociology of the profession of international law, using biographical studies of
Hersch Lauterpacht Sir Hersch Lauterpacht (16 August 1897 – 8 May 1960) was a British international lawyer, human rights activist, and judge at the International Court of Justice. Biography Hersch Lauterpacht was born on 16 August 1897 to a Jewish family in ...
,
Carl Schmitt Carl Schmitt (11 July 1888 – 7 April 1985) was a German jurist, author, and political theorist. Schmitt wrote extensively about the effective wielding of political power. An authoritarian conservative theorist, he was noted as a critic of ...
and
Hans Morgenthau Hans Joachim Morgenthau (February 17, 1904 – July 19, 1980) was a German-American jurist and political scientist who was one of the major 20th-century figures in the study of international relations. Morgenthau's works belong to the tradition ...
. *
Fragmentation of international law: difficulties arising from the diversification and expansion of international law
': report of the Study Group of the
International Law Commission The International Law Commission (ILC) is a body of experts responsible for helping develop and codify international law. It is composed of 34 individuals recognized for their expertise and qualifications in international law, who are elected by t ...
, finalized by Martti Koskenniemi (2006) * ''The Cambridge Companion to International Law'' (2012) * ''To the Uttermost Parts of the Earth: Legal Imagination and International Power 1300–1870'' (2021) . * Koskenniemi, Martti. The Politics of International Law, Bloomsbury Publishing Plc, 2011. English Print ISBN 9781841139395 eBook ISBN 9781847316554- Pages 388


References


External links


Kenneth Anderson's Blog: Martti Koskenniemi (Theory)
An analysis by Martti Koskenniemi, Crimes of War Project.
Special issue of the ''German Law Journal'' marking the re-publication of "From Apology to Utopia"

article on Martti Koskenniemi's scholarly work
{{DEFAULTSORT:Koskenniemi, Martti 1953 births Living people 20th-century Finnish lawyers 20th-century Finnish diplomats Legal historians International law scholars Academic staff of the University of Helsinki Finnish legal scholars Members of the Institut de Droit International People from Turku Academic staff of Utrecht University Corresponding fellows of the British Academy Finnish officials of the United Nations 21st-century Finnish lawyers