Antonio Cassese (1 January 1937 – 21 October 2011) was an Italian jurist who specialized in

public 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 ...

. He was the first President of the

International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia The International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) was a body of the United Nations that was established to prosecute the war crimes in the Yugoslav Wars, war crimes that had been committed during the Yugoslav Wars and to tr ...

and the first President of the

Special Tribunal for Lebanon The Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL), also referred to as the Lebanon Tribunal or the Hariri Tribunal, was a tribunal of international character that was active between 2009 and 2023. It applied Lebanese criminal law under the authority of ...

which he presided over until his resignation on health grounds on 1 October 2011.

Early life

Born in Atripalda, Cassese was educated at the

University of Pisa The University of Pisa (, UniPi) is a public university, public research university in Pisa, Italy. Founded in 1343, it is one of the oldest universities in Europe. Together with Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and Sant'Anna School of Advanced S ...

(at the prestigious Collegio Medico-Giuridico of the Scuola Normale Superiore, which today is Sant'Anna School of Advanced Studies), where he met his mentor, Giuseppe Sperduti, who was an international lawyer and a member of the

European Commission on Human Rights The European Commission of Human Rights was a special body of the Council of Europe. From 1954 to the 1998 entry into force of Protocol 11 to the European Convention on Human Rights, individuals did not have direct access to the European Court ...

. Cassese eventually decided to pursue an academic career in public international law under Sperduti's guidance.

Academic career

Cassese was the Professor of International Law at the

from 1972 to 1974. In 1975 he joined the

University of Florence The University of Florence ( Italian: ''Università degli Studi di Firenze'') (in acronym UNIFI) is an Italian public research university located in Florence, Italy. It comprises 12 schools and has around 50,000 students enrolled. History The f ...

, where he served as professor until 2008. He was a

visiting fellow In academia An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of tertiary education. The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, founded approximately 386 BC at Akademia, a sanctuary of ...

All Souls College, Oxford All Souls College (official name: The College of All Souls of the Faithful Departed, of Oxford) is a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Unique to All Souls, all of its members automatically become fellows (i.e., full me ...

, from 1979 to 1980 and professor of law at the

European University Institute The European University Institute (EUI) is an international postgraduate and post-doctoral research-intensive university and an intergovernmental organisation with juridical personality, established by its founding member states to contribu ...

from 1987 to 1993. He published extensively on

international human rights law International human rights law (IHRL) is the body of international law designed to promote human rights on social, regional, and domestic levels. As a form of international law, international human rights law is primarily made up of treaties, ag ...

and

international criminal law International criminal law (ICL) is a body of public international law designed to prohibit certain categories of conduct commonly viewed as serious atrocities and to make perpetrators of such conduct criminally accountable for their perpetrat ...

. He was the author of International Law and International Criminal Law published by the

Oxford University Press Oxford University Press (OUP) is the publishing house of the University of Oxford. It is the largest university press in the world. Its first book was printed in Oxford in 1478, with the Press officially granted the legal right to print books ...

, the co-founder and co-editor of the European Journal of International Law, and founder and editor-in-chief of the Journal of International Criminal Justice. Cassese was granted Doctorates honoris causa by

Erasmus University Rotterdam Erasmus University Rotterdam ( ; abbreviated as EUR) is a public research university located in Rotterdam, Netherlands. The university is named after Desiderius Erasmus Roterodamus, a 15th-century Christian humanist and theologian. Erasmus M ...

, Paris X University and the

University of Geneva The University of Geneva (French: ''Université de Genève'') is a public university, public research university located in Geneva, Switzerland. It was founded in 1559 by French theologian John Calvin as a Theology, theological seminary. It rema ...

, and was a member of the Institut de Droit International. In 2002, he received the Grand Prix awarded by the Académie Universelle des Cultures, presided over by the Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel, for "exceptional contribution to the protection of human rights in Europe and the world". On 13 November 2009, Cassese received the

Erasmus Prize The Erasmus Prize is an annual prize awarded by the board of the Praemium Erasmianum Foundation to individuals or institutions that have made exceptional contributions to culture, society, or social science in Europe and the rest of the world. I ...

for his services in the field of international law.

Judicial and public career

Cassese was Chairman of the Council of Europe Steering Committee for Human Rights from 1987 to 1988 and President of the

European Committee for the Prevention of Torture European, or Europeans, may refer to: In general * ''European'', an adjective referring to something of, from, or related to Europe ** Ethnic groups in Europe ** Demographics of Europe ** European cuisine, the cuisines of Europe and other We ...

from 1989 to 1993. He represented the Italian Government on many occasions at UN meetings on human rights and served as the representative at the Geneva Diplomatic Conference on the Humanitarian Law of Armed Conflicts from 1974 to 1977. He was the first President of the

(ICTY), serving in this capacity from 1993 to 1997. After his tenure as President, he continued to sit as a Tribunal judge until February 2000. In his book ''International Criminal Law'' (2003), he argued for the expansion of criminal responsibility of an offender. He equalised '' dolus eventualis'' with recklessness, and expanded his term "

culpable negligence Endangerment is a type of crime involving conduct that is wrongful and reckless or wanton, and likely to produce death or grievous bodily harm to another person. There are several kinds of endangerment, each of which is a criminal act that can b ...

" ('' culpa gravis'') to unconscious negligence. By this, he got closer to the objective responsibility of an offender for a risk (

strict liability In criminal and civil law, strict liability is a standard of liability under which a person is legally responsible for the consequences flowing from an activity even in the absence of fault or criminal intent on the part of the defendant. Und ...

). For this he was criticised, as this contradicted the general rule that objective responsibility, in this case, cannot be part of the criminal law of civilised countries. In October 2004, Cassese was appointed by

UN Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

Kofi Annan Kofi Atta Annan (8 April 193818 August 2018) was a Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh secretary-general of the United Nations from 1997 to 2006. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize. He was the founder a ...

to be the Chairperson for the International Commission of Inquiry on

Darfur Darfur ( ; ) is a region of western Sudan. ''Dār'' is an Arabic word meaning "home f – the region was named Dardaju () while ruled by the Daju, who migrated from Meroë , and it was renamed Dartunjur () when the Tunjur ruled the area. ...

. This Commission was to investigate potential international and

human rights Human rights are universally recognized Morality, moral principles or Social norm, norms that establish standards of human behavior and are often protected by both Municipal law, national and international laws. These rights are considered ...

violations taking place in Darfur, and to determine whether or not acts of genocide had occurred. On 25 January 2005, the Commission issued its "Report to the Secretary-General." The Commission found that while there was evidence of

war crimes A war crime is a violation of the laws of war that gives rise to individual criminal responsibility for actions by combatants in action, such as intentionally killing civilians or intentionally killing prisoners of war, torture, taking hos ...

and

crimes against humanity Crimes against humanity are certain serious crimes committed as part of a large-scale attack against civilians. Unlike war crimes, crimes against humanity can be committed during both peace and war and against a state's own nationals as well as ...

, the government of

Sudan Sudan, officially the Republic of the Sudan, is a country in Northeast Africa. It borders the Central African Republic to the southwest, Chad to the west, Libya to the northwest, Egypt to the north, the Red Sea to the east, Eritrea and Ethiopi ...

had not committed acts of

genocide Genocide is violence that targets individuals because of their membership of a group and aims at the destruction of a people. Raphael Lemkin, who first coined the term, defined genocide as "the destruction of a nation or of an ethnic group" by ...

. This finding was contrary to the position of the United States, which had already labelled the Government's activities as "genocide". The Commission recommended the U.N. Security Council use its referral power under the

Rome Statute The Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court is the treaty that established the International Criminal Court (ICC). It was adopted at a diplomatic conference in Rome, Italy on 17 July 1998Michael P. Scharf (August 1998)''Results of the R ...

to refer the Darfur case to the

International Criminal Court The International Criminal Court (ICC) is an intergovernmental organization and International court, international tribunal seated in The Hague, Netherlands. It is the first and only permanent international court with jurisdiction to prosecute ...

in The Hague. This recommendation was expected from the Commission, as Cassese was known to be an ardent supporter of the International Criminal Court. In March 2005, the U.N. Security Council acted upon the ICC's recommendation and used its referral power for the first time to refer the Darfur case to the ICC. In May 2005, Cassese was appointed a Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (OMRI). In October 2008, Cassese was legal advisor to the European Committee for Delisting the PMOI ( People's Mujahedin of Iran). Cassese was elected as the President of the

(STL) in March 2009. He was the first president of STL. He resigned on health grounds on 1 October 2011 and was succeeded by David Baragwanath.

Death

Antonio Cassese died in

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

on 21 October 2011, after a long fight with cancer. He was 74.

Private archives

Th
private papers of Antonio Cassese
have been deposited at the Historical Archives of the European Union. The documents are open for consultation.

Antonio Cassese Initiative for Peace, Justice and Humanity

In April 2012, a group of Cassese's friends and admirers launched, in

Geneva Geneva ( , ; ) ; ; . is the List of cities in Switzerland, second-most populous city in Switzerland and the most populous in French-speaking Romandy. Situated in the southwest of the country, where the Rhône exits Lake Geneva, it is the ca ...

, the Antonio Cassese Initiative for Peace, Justice and Humanity. The Initiative aims at perpetuating the values incarnated by Professor Cassese's teachings, and at promoting - by means of a wide range of education and research activities - international peace, human rights and the rule of law.

References

Bibliography *

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Cassese, Antonio 20th-century Italian judges People from the Province of Avellino 1937 births 2011 deaths Presidents of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia International law scholars Members of the Institut de Droit International Academic staff of the University of Florence University of Pisa alumni Academic staff of the University of Pisa Special Tribunal for Lebanon judges Deaths from cancer in Tuscany Italian judges of United Nations courts and tribunals 21st-century Italian judges Knights Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic