Professor Harold Koh serves on a team of lawyers who recently sued Russia at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) -- also known as the World Court –- on behalf of Ukraine. On March 15th, the ICJ returned with a ruling, ordering Russia to halt all military operations in Ukraine. The order summary can be read here. During closing remarks at the ICJ in The Hague on March 7th, 2022, Professor Koh observed that "This court is no stranger to tragedy, but it is rare when you confront a case that combines such callous brutality with such brazen illegality.” 

Harold Hongju Koh is the Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School and served as Dean from 2004 until 2009. He served as Legal Adviser to the State Department (2009-2013) and received the Secretary of State's Distinguished Service Award. He has received seventeen honorary degrees and more than thirty awards for his human rights work, including awards from Columbia Law School and the American Bar Association for his lifetime achievements in international law. Professor Koh holds a B.A. degree from Harvard College and B.A. and M.A. degree from Oxford University, where he was a Marshall Scholar. He earned his J.D. from Harvard Law School, where he was a Developments Editor of the Harvard Law Review. Before coming to Yale, he served as a law clerk for Justice Harry A. Blackmun of the United States Supreme Court.

This programming is made possible through a generous donation made by the late Joan Heckler Gillings, who served as a founding board member of TFED. Additional sponsors for this event include UNC Global, Center for European Studies, Transatlantic Masters, UNC English & Comparative Literature, Honors Carolina, UNC's Curriculum in Peace, War, and Defense, and the Gillings Global Series.