Respect for International Law

We teach and research international law. Despite holding different views on individual issues and diverging assessments of specific conflicts, we are united by the following convictions:

Observance of international law is more important than ever in the current situation in order to maintain and restore world peace. This is especially true for Germany. Germany’s legitimacy on the world stage after the crimes of the Holocaust and the German war of aggression, which became the Second World War, has always been based decisively on Germany’s decision to not only comply with international law, but also to protect and promote it. The German Basic Law, from its preamble to its last article, is shaped by a commitment to international law. We therefore call for compliance with Germany’s obligations under international law. Especially at a time when international law is being broken by powerful states, we urgently appeal to decision-makers at federal and state levels not to jeopardize Germany’s commitment to international law.

We therefore welcome Germany’s and Europe’s support for Ukraine, which has been the victim of a war of aggression in violation of international law, and agree that this support should be continued and strengthened by the future German government in cooperation with other states given that the United States of America has turned its back on Ukraine. Territorial changes cannot occur without the consent of the affected state and need to respect the right of self-determination of peoples. This also rules out recognizing bilateral treaties signed under duress.

We stress that Germany has committed itself to participating in international institutions on the basis of international law and the Basic Law. Arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court must be respected and executed by state parties. This applies to Russian President Vladimir Putin, but also to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, regardless of whether we consider an arrest warrant issued by the International Criminal Court to be correct in terms of its content and regardless of our assessment of the scope of personal immunity. Inviting Netanyahu to Germany with the assurance of immunity would violate international and German law, which, with the approval of all democratic parties since the last legislative period, provides for the exclusion of functional immunity for crimes under international law (Gerichtsverfassungsgesetz, Sec. 20(2), 2nd sentence).

Furthermore, we consider it essential that the Federal Government, in view of the International Court of Justice’s July 2024 advisory opinion on the illegality of the Israeli occupation, to which the Federal Foreign Office has affirmatively referred, and its assurances made before the International Court of Justice, ensures that no weapons are supplied to Israel that are used in violation of international law.

In the attempts to prevent the UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese from speaking at universities, we see – regardless of whether we agree with Albanese’s analyses and some controversial statements in the past – a violation of the freedom of expression and academic freedom enshrined in the Basic Law and also in international human rights instruments. Furthermore, Germany’s constitutionally enshrined membership of the United Nations requires respect for its institutions, including the special representatives it mandates. In this regard, we agree with the criticism voiced by the European Society of International Law and our colleagues at the Free University of Berlin.

These attacks on international law in the context of the Middle East conflict have parallels in the debate on asylum law. With all due respect for different views on asylum policy, obligations under international and European law must be respected when dealing with refugees. This includes compliance with the European Convention on Human Rights and EU law, the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights, and the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Note: The Declaration is now offline. If you are a German speaking international law scholar and would like to sign, please contact Matthias Goldmann (matthias.goldmann@ebs.edu). For press inquiries, please contact Anne van Aaken (anne.van.aaken@uni-hamburg.de), Kai Ambos (kambos@gwdg.de) or Matthias Goldmann.

As of March, 19th 2025

1. Anne van Aaken, Professorin, Universität Hamburg
2. Andreas Paulus, Professor, Universität Göttingen
3. Kai Ambos, Professor, Universität Göttingen
4. Matthias Goldmann, Professor, EBS Universität für Wirtschaft und Recht
5. Sigrid Boysen, Professorin, Helmut-Schmidt-Universität/ Universität der Bundeswehr Hamburg
6. Thomas Giegerich, Professor, Europa-Institut, Universität des Saarlandes
7. Philipp Dann, Professor, Humboldt Universität zu Berlin
8. Markus Krajewski, Professor, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
9. Andreas Haratsch, Professor, FernUniversität in Hagen
10. Andreas von Arnauld, Professor, Walther-Schücking-Institut, Universität Kiel
11. Dagmar Richter, Professorin, Universität Heidelberg/ Universität des Saarlandes
12. Donald Riznik, Akademischer Oberrat, Universität der Bundeswehr München
13. Grażyna Baranowska, Professorin, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
14. Bruno Simma, Professor, LMU München/ University of Michigan Ann Arbor
15. Stefan Oeter, Professor, Universität Hamburg
16. Thomas Kleinlein, Professor, Walther-Schücking-Institut, Universität Kiel
17. Christina Binder, Professorin, Universität der Bundeswehr München
18. Florian Jeßberger, Professor, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
19. Nele Matz-Lück, Professorin, Walther-Schücking-Institut, Universität Kiel
20. Alexander Proelß, Professor, Universität Hamburg
21. Rainer Hofmann, Professor, Universität Frankfurt a.M.
22. Dominik Steiger, Professor, Zentrum für Internationale Studien, Technische Universität Dresden
23. Eva Pils, Professorin, Universität Erlangen-Nürnberg
24. Nora Markard, Professorin, Universität Münster
25. Claus Dieter Classen, Professor, Universität Greifswald
26. Christian Tomuschat, Professor, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
27. Marc Bungenberg, Professor, Europa-Institut, Universität des Saarlandes
28. Mehrdad Payandeh, Professor, Bucerius Law School, Hamburg
29. Birgit Peters, Professorin, Universität Trier
30. Ralf Michaels, Professor, Universität Hamburg und Queen Mary University London
31. Andreas Fischer-Lescano, Professor, Universität Kassel
32. Felix Hanschmann, Professor, Bucerius Law School, Hamburg
33. Karin Oellers-Frahm, MPI für ausländisches öffentliches Recht und Völkerrecht, Heidelberg
34. Daniel-Erasmus Khan, Professor, Universität der Bundeswehr München
35. Stefanie Bock, Professorin, Philipps-Universität Marburg
36. Eckart Klein, Professor, Universität Potsdam
37. Markus Kotzur, Professor, Universität Hamburg
38. Marten Breuer, Professor, Universität Konstanz
39. Nico Krisch, Professor, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies
40. Franz Mayer, Professor, Universität Bielefeld
41. Claudia Maria Hofmann, Professorin, Europa-Universität Viadrina Frankfurt (Oder)
42. Frank Neubacher, Professor, Universität zu Köln
43. Karsten Nowrot, Professor, Universität Hamburg
44. Matthias Ruffert, Professor, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
45. Peter-Tobias Stoll, Professor, Universität Göttingen
46. Ingo Venzke, Professor, Universiteit van Amsterdam
47. Lukas Rass-Masson, Professor, Université de Toulouse
48. Felix Lange, Professor, Universität zu Köln
49. Sina Fontana, Professorin, Universität Augsburg
50. Angelika Siehr, Professorin, Universität Bielefeld
51. Andreas Müller, Professor, Universität Basel
52. Astrid Epiney, Professorin, Universität Freiburg, Schweiz
53. Yvonne Karimi-Schmidt, Professorin, Universität Graz
54. Erich Schweighofer, Professor, Universität Wien
55. Oliver Dörr, Professor, Universität Osnabrück
56. Christian Walter, Professor, LMU München
57. Robert Uerpmann-Wittzack, Professor, Universität Regensburg
58. Björn Schiffbauer, Professor, Universität Rostock
59. Jürgen Bröhmer, Professor, Murdoch University, Perth, West-Australien
60. Eibe Riedel, Professor (em.), Universität Mannheim
61. Matthias Mahlmann, Professor, Universität Zürich
62. Manfred Nowak, Professor, Universität Wien
63. Theodor Schilling, apl. Professor, Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
64. Martina Haedrich, Professorin, Universität Jena
65. Kay Hailbronner, Professor, Universität Konstanz
66. Jochen von Bernstorff, Professor, Universität Tübingen
67. Katja Ziegler, Professorin, University of Leicester, Vereinigtes Königreich
68. Stephan Breitenmoser, Professor (em.), Universität Basel
69. Stephanie Schiedermair, Professorin, Universität Leipzig
70. Meinhard Schröder, Professor,Universität Trier
71. Ulrich Fastenrath, Professor, Zentrum für Internationale Studien, Technische Universität Dresden
72. Anuscheh Farahat, Professorin, Universität Wien
73. Karsten Thorn, Professor, Bucerius Law School, Hamburg
74. Michaela Hailbronner, Universität Münster
75. Anna Petrig, Professorin, Universität Basel
76. Sabine von Schorlemer, Professorin, Zentrum für Int. Studien, Technische Universität Dresden
77. Professor Dr. Dirk Hanschel (Martin-Luther-Universität Halle-Wittenberg)
78. Professor Dr. Matthias Valta (Heinrich-Heine-Universität Düsseldorf)
79. Professor Dr. Henning Lahmann (Universität Leiden)