International Symposium Held in the Honour of Professor Levan Alexidze

On September 14th 2017, International Law Institute of Ivane Javakhishvili Tbilisi State University (TSU) in cooperation with London School of Economics and Political Sciences (LSE) and the Melbourne University, organized international Symposium in honour of Professor Levan Alexidze.

Symposium was opened by the Prof. Ketevan Khutsishvili, outlining the contribution by Professor Levan Alexidze to the process of creation and development of modern International Law. She also highlighted the role Professor Alexidze played during restoration of independence by Georgia, drafting of the Constitution of Georgia and admission of the country to various international organizations as a fully-fledged member; alongside all of these, the work by Professor Alexidze was praised  for founding Georgian International Law School as a part of establishing International Law and International Relations Faculty at Tbilisi State University.

Opening remarks were made by the Vice Chancellor of TSU, Mr. Mikheil Chkhenkeli, expressing gratitude to Professor Levan Alexidze for continuous efforts he was making in the process of internationalisatoin of Tbilisi State University.

Merits of Professor Levan Alexidze and his role in the development of International Law, including during the  “Cold War” were noted by such internationally recognized and renowned scholars as Professor Gerry Simpson of London School of Economics and Political Sciences, Professor Matthew Craven (SOAS), Professor Sundhya Pahuja (Melbourne University), Scott Newton (SOAS) and others.

Symposium continued with the discussion observing International Law of the period of “Cold War”. Particular attention was drown to Professor Levan Alexidze's contributions to this end. It was noted, that Professor Levan Alexidze belongs to a very small group of scholars, who remained loyal to their values and holistic ideology in the time of harsh opposition to basic values of mankind. His personal effort and involvement contributed strongly to the elaboration of main international instruments on human rights protection during the “cold war”. It was stressed that Professor Levan Alexidze was first from socialist block, who had been invited to The Hague Academy of International Law as an invited professor at the time when cold war was unleashing in its full scale.

Within the frameworks of the Symposium, active discussion developed with the involvement of representatives of international academic sector and several generations of TSU international law graduates.

Event marked a beginning of TSU International Law Institute’s 2017-2018 academic year  public lectures. This event was the first in the cycle of events dedicated to the Cold War International Law also hosted by Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia and Writers’ House of Georgia on 14-17 September.