Name Horst Fischer | ||
Horst Fischer (born 11 December 1950 in Duisburg, Germany) is Professor of international humanitarian law at Leiden University, Netherlands.
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Biography
After studying law Fischer, earned his PhD in 1984 from the University of Bochum with a thesis on international law and the use of nuclear weapons. From 1990, he served as member of several diplomatic delegations to conferences and meetings of non-governmental organizations that dealt with the issues of international humanitarian law and humanitarian assistance. He was also consultant on these issues for the United Nations, the European Union, several national ministries and various organizations such as the International Committee of the Red Cross ( ICRC). He founded in 1988 with Knut Ipsen, Professor of Public Law, The Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict at the Ruhr - University Bochum. Since then, Horst Fischer is Academic Director of the Institute (on leave) . In addition, since 1998 he is Professor of International Humanitarian Law at Leiden University . He also teaches as an Adjunct Professor of International and Public Affairs ) at Columbia University . He worked as legal counsel for both the Netherlands Red Cross Society and the German Red Cross, for which he served as Federal Commissioner.
Accomplishments
He established the field of humanitarian assistance as relevant interdisciplinary European research and teaching areas in Germany and Europe by the NOHA and E.MA networks. Fischer created at Ruhr-University Bochum in Germany the award winning [7] NOHA joint degree Master programme]\ in 1994 and E.MA Master in 1997. The programs provided for the first time interdisciplinary joint degrees with transeuropean networks of universities and action oriented focus.
Fischer established in 1998 the Yearbook of International Humanitarian Law as General Editor with Cambridge University Press and the quarterly journal Humanitäres Völkerrecht with the German Red Cross. He had been one of the five rapporteurs for preparing the groundwork from 1995 - 2000 for the study on customary humanitarian law published with Cambridge University Press in 2005.
The German Rectors Conference gave him 1999 a special award for establishing European Master Programmes in international humanitarian affairs. The President of the Federal Republic of Germany, Horst Köhler, awarded the Federal Cross of Merit 1st Class of the [8] Order of Merit of the Federal Republic of Germany to Horst Fischer on March 17, 2010 for achievements in humanitarian affairs and the internationalisation of master programmes. The City of Venice, Italy, gave him on September 22, 2013 a special award for his contribution to the international human rights culture .
He is currently director of the Brussels Representation of the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit and Academic Director of the Institute for International Law of Peace and Armed Conflict (IFHV) at the Ruhr-University Bochum. At Leiden University, he occupies the chair of international humanitarian law, he is also an Adjunct professor at Columbia University (SIPA), New York, and Visiting professor at the University of Strasbourg, France. Since 2002 he has been president of the European Inter University Centre for Human Rights and Democratisation in Venice. From 1994 to 2007 he was also President and Honorary President of the NOHA Association in Brussels. From 2001 to 2012, he served as Chairman of the Board of the Berghof Foundation for Conflict Research in Berlin . His main academic interests in addition to international humanitarian law are human rights, arms control, peacekeeping and security policy.