The Trial of the Kaiser

Speaker:

William A. Schabas (Professor of International Law, Middlesex University London)

Chaired by: Dr. Danae Azaria (UCL)

About the lecture:

Within days of the armistice, on 11 November 1918, the victors began planning a trial of Kaiser Wilhelm II. For two months, the Paris Peace Conference debated the nature of the international tribunal by which he might be tried and the definitions of crimes for which he would be charged. Article 227 of the Treaty of Versailles pledged a trial by an international tribunal, but the government of the Netherlands gave asylum to the Kaiser and refused to extradite him. This is the first chapter in the history of international criminal justice.

About the Speaker:

William A. Schabas is professor of international law at Middlesex University in London. He is also professor of international human law and human rights at Leiden University distinguished visiting faculty at Sciences Po in Paris and honorary chairman of the Irish Centre for Human Rights.

Professor Schabas holds BA and MA degrees in history from the University of Toronto and LLB, LLM and LLD degrees from the University of Montreal, as well as several honorary doctorates. He is the author of more than twenty books in the fields of human rights and international criminal law. Professor Schabas drafted the 2010 and 2015 United Nations quinquennial reports on the death penalty. He was a member of the Sierra Leone Truth and Reconciliation Commission and chairman of the UN Commission of Inquiry into the 2014 Gaza conflict.

Professor Schabas is an Officer of the Order of Canada and a member of the Royal Irish Academy in 2007.

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