Located in the Peace Palace in The Hague, Netherlands, the Hague Academy of International Law is one of the oldest institutions in public and private international law. The Hague Academy is not a university but “a centre for teaching and research in public and private international law, with the aim of furthering the scientific study of the legal aspects of international relations”. It shares the Geneva Graduate Institute’s dedication to bilingual French and English education.
The Hague Academy hosts prestigious summer courses every year, bringing together almost 700 attendees of approximately 100 different nationalities. That Phattharaphong Saengkrai and André-Philippe Ouellet were the only students to be awarded the “Diploma of the Academy” following the exam on Public International Law is remarkable. The Jury of their Exam consisted of Professor Jean-Marc Thouvenin, Secretary-General of the Academy, Professor Laurence Boisson de Chazournes (also an Institute alumna), and Professors Régis Bismuth and Vladislav Lanavoy.
Dr. Phattharaphong Saengkrai completed his PhD at the Geneva Graduate Institute in 2023. His thesis was entitled “Authentic Interpretation of Treaties in Contemporary International Law” and supervised by Fuad Zarbiyev, Professor of International Law at the Geneva Graduate Institute. He is now a Lecturer at Thammasat University in Bangkok, Thailand.
I enjoyed the experience at The Hague Academy, both the courses and the directed studies that I took for the diploma exam. It was demanding but also richly rewarding and thoroughly enjoyable. I learned so much from the high calibre of colleagues from the directed studies. The exam question is about ‘legal fiction’ which is pleasantly surprising, and I enjoyed reflecting on this topic during the written exam too. It is also delightful to share the diploma with my friend from the Graduate Institute.
The diploma is a tremendous honour for me. I would like to thank my former supervisor, Professor Fuad Zarbiyev, and other professors from the Graduate Institute who helped shape my skills as an international lawyer.
André-Philippe Ouellet is an international law PhD Candidate at the Geneva Graduate Institute, a Swiss National Science Foundation Doc. Ch researcher and a doctoral fellow of the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. His PhD research focuses on the notion and role of the object and purpose in treaty law (operation, interpretation and termination). His PhD is supervised by Professors Marcelo Kohen and Andrew Clapham of the Geneva Graduate Institute and Professor Fernando Lusa Bordin of the University of Cambridge. Embracing the bilingual traditions of both the Hague Institute and the Geneva Graduate Institute, he said of the experience:
Obtenir le diplôme de l'Académie de droit international de La Haye est un immense honneur. C’est également un accomplissement personnel et l’aboutissement d’une longue préparation, cette participation aux épreuves ayant été pour moi un objectif de très longue date. Je rejoins ainsi les six Canadiens, dont trois Québécois, titulaires du diplôme depuis 1950, mais également, en pensée, les sept Suisses en ayant fait autant. Je me réjouis de suivre la voie tracée par de nombreux collègues, Professeurs et alumni de l'IHEID qui ont obtenu le diplôme ainsi que de contribuer à paver la voie de ceux qui suivront.
À l'instar de notre Institut, le bilinguisme fait partie de l'architecture même de l'Académie de La Haye. Notre double réussite est donc en quelque sorte un reflet de notre Institut, Phil ayant suivi les directions d'études et passé les épreuves en langue anglaise et moi en français.
Fuad Zarbiyev, Professor of International Law at the Geneva Graduate Institute, Faculty Associate at the Global Governance Centre, and former supervisor of Phattharaphong Saengkrai, said of the fact that two Institute students were thus honoured,
Our Institute has a long tradition of being the academic home for many recipients of the Diploma of The Hague Academy. Indeed, the past recipients include Georges Abi-Saab and Marcelo Kohen, honorary professors of international law at the Institute, Mamadou Hébié et Bérénice Schramm both of whom obtained their PhD degrees at the Institute and currently hold academic positions in The Netherlands, and Turkey, and Ashley Stanley-Ryan who is a PhD candidate at the Institute. The fact that the only two recipients of the Diploma awarded during the 2025 Summer Courses on Public International Law are both from the Institute shows that the tradition is still very much vibrant. Congratulations to Phattharaphong and André-Philippe on this well-deserved distinction!