Professor Paola Gaeta will succeed Professor Gloria Gaggioli as the interim Director of the Geneva Academy

3 July 2024

As of 1 August 2024, Professor Paola Gaeta will assume the position of ad interim Director of the Geneva Academy, succeeding Professor Gloria Gaggioli, who will complete her four productive and eventful years of leadership.

Professor Gaeta previously co-led the Geneva Academy from 2010 to 2014 with Professor Andrew Clapham, where she was also director of the renowned LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights and teaching programmes from their establishment in 2007. She has been a core faculty member since that time, primarily teaching International Criminal Law, and was involved in the establishment of the current Executive Master programme and the Master in Transitional Justice. She is an established Professor of International Law at the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, and co-founder and current President of the Antonio Cassese Initiative for Justice, Peace and Humanity.

As a leading expert in international criminal law and international criminal courts and tribunals, Professor Gaeta has published widely on these issues, and will serve as co-editor in chief of the Journal of International Criminal Justice from January 2025. She has been involved in many research projects closely linked to the Geneva Academy including work which led to the publication of ‘The Oxford Handbook of International Law in Armed Conflict’ (OUP, 2014) and ‘The 1949 Geneva Conventions: A Commentary’ (OUP 2015) which won the American Society of International Law 2017 Certificate of Merit in Technical Craftsmanship.

Professor Vincent Chetail, President of the Board of the Geneva Academy, commented, ‘We are very grateful that Professor Gaeta has accepted this important and challenging task. The Geneva Academy will greatly benefit from her extensive experience, dedication and knowledge, notably as its former co-director and a faculty member since the creation of the Geneva Academy. We also express our thanks to Professor Gaggioli for the important work she has done during her mandate.’

During her four years of leadership at the Geneva Academy, Professor Gaggioli has taken on numerous challenges, including addressing the consequences of the COVID-19 crisis and ensuring the institution’s financial stability. She initiated and oversaw various institutional developments, such as strengthening our Advanced Master’s programmes, developing academic and policy research including development of the IHL Expert Pool, enhancing the influence and external visibility of our institution, and marking the occasion of the 15th anniversary of the Geneva Academy. Her contributions have reinforced the Geneva Academy’s position as a unique player within international Geneva and beyond, fostering a worldwide reputation for excellence in the disciplines and legal frameworks underpinning its work. As an international law professor at the University of Geneva, she will remain part of the Geneva Academy resident faculty and continue to teach courses in the LLM and Executive Master in International Law in Armed Conflict, and continue her research commitments including being an advisory board member for the IHL in Focus project.