Emmanuel Decaux

Emmanuel Decaux of France was elected President of the OSCE Court of Conciliation and Arbitration in October 2019.

Decaux is Professor emeritus of the University of Paris II – Panthéon-Assas, where he taught public international law and international human rights law. He was also Director of the Doctorate School of International Law, European Law, International Relations and Comparative Law. In April 2021, he was appointed President of the René Cassin Foundation – International Institute of Human Rights. He has published on topics of public international law and international organizations, with a focus on the peaceful settlement of disputes and human rights. He is also a member of the Advisory Board of the publication Security and Human Rights Monitor.

In addition to his academic career, Decaux has held several functions within the United Nations. He was a member and then President of the UN Committee on Enforced Disappearances between 2011 and 2019. Prior to that, he was a member of the UN Sub-Commission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights and a member of the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee.

Decaux also participated as a member of the French delegation to three meetings of the Human Dimension Conference (1989-1991) and to the first Human Dimension Implementation meetings organized by the OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights in Warsaw. Later he was nominated as an expert as part of the Moscow Mechanism on the Human Dimension on behalf of which he acted twice (in 2003 and 2011) as Rapporteur.

Emmanuel Decaux succeeds to Christian Tomuschat, who headed the Court between October 2013 and October 2019.

Former Presidents

Christian Tomuschat

Robert Badinter