The Summer Courses

Introducing the Summer Courses

The Summer Courses and the Winter Courses constitute the Academy’s primary activity. The Summer Courses are organized in two sessions of three weeks each, one focusing on Public International Law and one on Private International Law.

The Summer Courses are designed for students and practitioners who have a prior grounding in public or private international law. The courses are given in English or French and are simultaneously translated into the other language.

Each Summer Courses session consists of a General Course which lasts the full three weeks, Special Courses of one week each (broaching six different topics in total), and afternoon seminars and guest lectures. All courses and lectures are given by renowned academics, practitioners and diplomats from various institutions around the world.

Since opening its doors in 1923, thousands of students from over 100 different nationalities have been able to attend the Academy’s Summer Courses. Many alumni, having thus had the opportunity to meet “great names” in the field of international law, have subsequently gone on to become themselves well-known academics, legal practitioners or diplomats, among other occupations.

After having been dispensed, the courses are subsequently published in the Collected Courses book series, of which there are currently over 439 volumes, ranking among the most important encyclopedic publications dedicated to public and private international law.

Since 2019, the Academy also offers Winter Courses in early January.