ASIL Awards and Honors

The Society provides a variety of awards that recognize excellence in the field of international law. Awards are made by the Society on the recommendation of committees appointed annually in the spring by the President of the Society. Unless otherwise indicated below, questions about and nominations for ASIL awards should be sent to Rosemary Kurtz at 202.939.6000.

Annual Scholarship Awards
The Society bestows book awards known as ASIL Certificates of Merit, given for preeminent contribution to creative scholarship, a specialized area of international law, and/or high technical craftsmanship. Authors and publishers are encouraged to submit appropriate works for consideration by the Committee on Annual Awards. Books, monographs or articles of any nationality, language or place of publication, which have been published in the 24 months preceding February 1 of the year the award is to be made, are eligible. Detailed eligibility requirements and procedures are set out in the ASIL Regulations.

2008 Scholarship Award Nominations Sought
The 2008 Awards Committee seeks nominations of books, monographs, or articles for ASIL Certificates of Merit to be awarded at its April 2008 Annual Meeting. The 2008 Committee is chaired by James Hathaway, University of Michigan Law School; and its other members are Karen Halverson Cross, John Marshall Law School; Mariano-Florentino Cuellar, Stanfard Law School; and Oren Gross, University of Minnesota Law School. Nominate works of scholarship by sending five (5) copies by September 30, 2007, to:

Rosemary Kurtz
ASIL, 2223 Massachusetts Avenue, NW,
Washington DC, 20008
United States

Congratulations to the 2007 Certificate of Merit award winners:

Oren Gross and Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, for Law in Times of Crisis (Cambridge University Press) (Preeminent Contribution To Creative Scholarship)

James C. Hathaway,The Rights of Refugees Under International Law (Cambridge University Press) (High Technical Craftsmanship And Utility To Practicing Lawyers And Scholars)

William Schabas, The UN International Criminal Tribunals (Cambridge University Press) (Specialized Area Of International Law)

Stephen C. Neff, War and the Law of Nations (Cambridge University Press) (Honorable Mention)

Mark Freeman, Truth Commissions and Procedural Fairness (Cambridge University Press) (Honorable Mention)

Click here to see previous honorees.

Manley O. Hudson Medal
The American Society of International Law bestows from time to time without regard to nationality a medal to commemorate the life work of Manley O. Hudson. Such awards are made for scholarship and achievement in international law.

In 2007, the Hudson Medal was awarded to Andreas Lowenfeld.

Click here to see previous honorees.

Goler T. Butcher Medal
The Society also awards a medal established in the name of the Society in honor of Professor Goler Teal Butcher to a distinguished person of American or other nationality, for outstanding contributions to the development or effective realization of international human rights law.

In 2007, the Butcher medal was awarded to Antonio Cançado Trindade and José Miguel Vivanco.

Click here to see previous honorees.

Honorary Members
Distinguished persons who are not United States citizens are awarded Honorary Membership in the Society for rendering distinguished contributions or service in the field of international law.

In 2007, Brigitte Stern was named an Honorary Member.

Click here to see previous honorees.

2008 Medal and Honorary Member Nominations Sought

The 2008 Honors Committee seeks nominations of individuals for the Hudson, Butcher, and Honorary Member honors, to be awarded at the Society’s April 2008 Annual Meeting. The Committee is chaired by Andreas Lowenfeld, New York University; and its other members are Christopher Borgen, St. John’s University Law School; Stephanie Farrior, Pennsylvania State University; Cynthia Crawford Lichtenstein, Boston College Law School; and Donald Mc Rae, University of Ottawa. The committee welcomes nominations for each of the three honors. Send nominations by August 31, 2007 to 2008HonorsNominations@asil.org.

Francis Lieber Prize
The Francis Lieber Society of the ASIL awards the Lieber Prize annually to an author 35 years or younger for outstanding scholarship in the field of the law of armed conflict. Information about the annual Lieber Prize competition can be obtained from Professor Michael Schmitt at schmitt@aya.yale.edu .

Congratulations to the 2007 Lieber honoree:

Dr. Laura Perna, the 2007 Lieber Prize, for The Formation of the Treaty Law of Non-International Armed Conflicts (Martinus Nijhoff 2006).

Read more about the Francis Lieber Prize.

Lieber Society Military Prize

The Francis Lieber Society, an interest group of the American Society of International Law, announces that it will bestow each year, beginning in 2007, without regard to nationality, a prize based upon an exceptional writing in English by a member of the regular or reserve armed forces of any nation that significantly enhances the understanding and implementation of the law of war.

Congratulations to the 2007 winners:

Lieutenant Colonel Eric T. Jensen, the 2007 Lieber Society Military Prize, for his paper "Combatant Status: It Is Time for Intermediate Levels of Recognition for Partial Compliance.”

Lieutenant Commander Gregory R. Bart, 2007 Honorable Mention, for his paper “The Ambiguous Protection of Schools under the Law of war -- Time for Parity with Hospitals and Religious Buildings.”

Major Simon W. Lee, 2007 Honorable Mention, for his paper “Making a Killing on the Battlefield: Private Military Companies and their status under International Law.”

Read more about the Lieber Society Military Prize.

The Francis Deak Prize
The annual Francis Deak Prize is awarded to a younger author for meritorious scholarship published in The American Journal of International Law. The prize was established by Philip Cohen in 1973, in memory of Francis Deak, former head of the international law program at the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace and editor of American International Law Cases, 1783-1963, the first volume of which was published in 1971, the year before his death. The award is sponsored by Oxford University Press and made in the spring following the volume year in which the article appeared. Award presentations are made at the ASIL Annual General Meeting.

Congratulations to the 2007 Deak winner:

Christine Bell, Peace Agreements: Their Nature and Legal Status, 100 AJIL 373 (2006)

Click here to see previous honorees.