Goodwin-Gill to receive prestigious Riesenfeld Award

The Kaldor Centre’s Professor Guy S. Goodwin-Gill will be honoured for his outstanding contributions to the field of international law with the 2020 Stefan A. Riesenfeld Memorial Award.

The Berkeley Journal of International Law at the University of California, in conjunction with Berkeley Law’s Miller Institute for Global Challenges and Law, will present the award at the Riesenfeld Symposium, Borderline: Problems and Perspectives in Global Migration, celebrating Professor Goodwin-Gill’s work and discuss pressing issues in international law.

Widely recognised as the preeminent legal scholar in the field of international refugee law, Professor Goodwin-Gill is Emeritus Fellow of All Souls College, Oxford and Emeritus Professor of International Refugee Law of the University of Oxford. He formerly practised as a barrister from Blackstone Chambers in London. His distinguished career has encompassed various roles with UNHCR, advocacy before the courts in a number of prominent cases, and academic posts in Canada and throughout Europe. Since joining the Kaldor Centre in 2017, he has served as Acting Director, published widely and regularly comments in the media.

‘Prof. Goodwin-Gill’s scholarly and legal work has been a critical part of efforts to understand and improve the existing system, and we look forward to celebrating his determined approach,’ the organisers said.

Prof Goodwin-Gill will deliver the keynote address at the Riesenfeld Symposium on 28 February. Noted legal scholars and practitioners will gather to will focus on refugee, asylum, and immigration law, with an emphasis on addressing emerging challenges to the international system of protections for refugees and asylum seekers.

Kaldor Centre Director Professor Jane McAdam will offer a Fireside Chat on ‘Climate Change Migration’. Other speakers include Kate Jastram, Director of Policy & Advocacy, Center for Gender and Refugee Studies, UC Hastings; Katrina Eiland, Managing Attorney, California Office, ACLU Immigrants’ Rights Project; Roxanna Altholz, Co-Director, International Human Rights Clinic, Berkeley Law; and others.

Professor Riesenfeld himself escaped Nazi Germany in 1934 at the age of 26, and eventually served the law faculty at Berkeley until his death in 1999 at the age of 90. He also served as Counselor for Public International Law at the US Department of State, and was twice engaged to argue major cases before the International Court of Justice in the Hague. His public interests ranged from reform proposals of the German Civil Code during the Weimar Republic, through participation in the drafting of Germany’s Basic Law during the allied occupation, to the United States Bankruptcy Commission’s second reform effort.

Previous recipients of the Riesenfeld Award include David D. Caron (2000); Louise Arbour (2002); Louis Henkin (2003); Philip Alston (2009); Charles N. Brower (2010); and Ivan Velasquez Gomez (2019).

You can register for the event here, which is free and open to the public.