Born in Sanremo in 1957, a criminal lawyer, he graduated with honours from the Faculty of Law of the University of Genoa.
At Studio Boscetto-Solerio-Mager, now Solerio-Mager-Sindoni, he has always practised as a freelance lawyer, mainly in the criminal sector, dealing with proceedings for offences against the Public Administration, in environmental matters, in matters concerning offences against individual freedom and in medical liability matters. An expert in banking matters, he practises in the judicial, extrajudicial and arbitration fields.
He has been a member of the Bar Council at the Sanremo Court and President of the Sanremo Criminal Chamber.
He was President of the Italian Academy of Cuisine.
A practising sportsman, he played football for the Carlin’s Boys, played tennis for 30 years, and has long dedicated himself -as an amateur- to rowing and road cycling.
He has been married since 1992 to Stefania Crespi, with whom he has had two sons, Alberto and Riccardo. 

Born in Imperia on 9 May 1972, Alessandro Piana is an agro-technician and agricultural entrepreneur in the family business.
From 2005 to 2009 he was a municipal councillor in Pontedassio. From 2006 to 2010 he was a provincial councillor and group leader of the Lega in Imperia. In 2009 he was re-elected town councillor in Pontedassio, where he served as councillor for Public Works and Town Planning between 2009 and 2011.
From 2010 to 2015 he was president of the Provincial Council of Imperia. In 2014 he was appointed deputy mayor of Pontedassio. In May 2015 he was elected regional councillor in the Imperia constituency. On 30 March 2018, he was elected President of the Regional Council.
Since October 2020, he has held the position of Vice President and Regional Councillor with delegations to Agriculture, Livestock, Hunting and Fishing, Aquaculture, Development of the Hinterland, Municipal Associations, Hiking and Leisure, Territorial Marketing and Promotion, Parks, Management and Reform of the In Liguria Agency, Promotion of Ligurian products, Community Programmes of competence.

Giorgio Battisti is a retired Lieutenant General in the Italian Army after 44 years of military service. His last assignment was Commander Italian Army Training and Doctrine Command in Rome.
Throughout his career General Battisti has held multiple command and staff positions in Italy and abroad. He took part in the UN mission to Somalia in 1993, and the NATO one to Bosnia in 1997. Furthermore, he deployed to Afghanistanin 2001/02, 2003, 2007 and 2013/14. During his last tour of duty in Kabul General Battisti served as ISAF HQs Chief of Staff.
He is the President of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (Sanremo).
Author of several essays, General Battisti has also participated in vocationally oriented conferences in national and international universities, cultural institutes as well as in Italian companies and corporations.
Amongst his many distinctions he has received the US Bronze Star Medal, the US Legion of Merit and l’Officier de l’Ordre National du Mérite of the French Republic. 

Eva Svoboda is currently Head of the Policy, Research and Humanitarian Diplomacy Division at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva.
Eva worked with the ICRC from 1999 until 2011 in Kashmir, Sudan, Myanmar, Iraq, East Timor, DRC and Algeria as protection coordinator, head of office, head of sub-delegation as well as head of delegation. Prior to joining the ICRC, Eva worked for the Swiss Development Agency and various non-governmental organisations.
From 2012 until 2018 she was working as a Senior Research Fellow with the Humanitarian Policy Group (HPG) at the Overseas Development Institute (ODI) in London.
Between 2016 and 2017 she worked as the senior expert for detainees and missing at the United Nations Office of the Special Envoy for Syria. 

Born in Catania on 1 July 1974 and resident in Acireale, where he lives with his wife and daughter, he holds a degree in law, specialising in public administration science and a master’s degree in labour law. Already a member of the Catania Bar Association and a member of the Court of Cassation, he now holds – in the public administration – the position of trial analyst and organisational position manager, where he deals with public relations.
In 1993, after hearing the experience of some Volunteers during an school assembly, he began his journey within the Italian Red Cross: ideals, emblem and actions on the territory have always been the guidelines of his voluntary work. Among the CRI Youth, he has held the positions of Group Inspector, Provincial Inspector, Regional Inspector, Deputy National Inspector, as well as having founded the National Training School for CRI Youth. In 2009, he was elected National Inspector for a three-year term, where he also held positions at European level within the European Coordination Committee (2008 – 2010). In 2016, he was elected to the CRI National Executive Council, with the position of Deputy National Vice President, subsequently reconfirmed in the May 2020 association elections, with responsibility for the Programmes, Training and Development Area. At the Governing Council meeting of 10 January 2023, following the resignation of Francesco Rocca, he assumed the duties of Acting President of the Association for about four months.
Internationally, he is currently a member of the leadership platform of the International Committee of the Red Cross on family reunification, as well as that of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies on migration. Since 2021, he has also been a member of the Commission for the Study and Development of International Humanitarian Law, established at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation. An organiser and speaker at dozens of conferences and events, both national and international, he has represented the Italian Red Cross numerous times abroad, such as at the Movement’s statutory meetings (four International Conferences, three General Assemblies of the Federation, three Mediterranean Conferences) and at several UN General Assemblies. He is a Qualified Advisor on the application of International Humanitarian Law in armed conflicts.
He has also received several awards, including: the Silver Medal of Merit of the Italian Red Cross in 2003, the CRI Seniority Cross 2nd Class in 2007, Knight for Human Rights in 2008, the Gold Medal of Merit in 2009, the Certificate of Public Merit for Civil Defence and the ‘Precursor of the Red Cross Ferdinando Palasciano’ Award in 2015, Knight of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic in 2016, the CRI Seniority Cross 1st Class in 2021. He is also an honorary citizen of the Municipality of Solferino. 

Admiral Giuseppe Cavo Dragone, born on February 28, 1957, in Arquata Scrivia, Italy, is a high-ranking officer in the Italian Navy with a distinguished military career. He joined the Naval Academy in October 1976 and completed his training in June 1980. He then trained with the U.S. Navy, earning pilot licenses for both fixed-wing aircraft and helicopters.
Upon returning to Italy in 1981, Cavo Dragone served as a helicopter pilot on several Italian naval ships, eventually commanding the Minesweeper Milazzo and participating in operations in the Persian Gulf. He later transitioned to flying jet aircraft and played a key role in establishing Italy’s naval aviation capabilities, including the introduction of the Harrier jet to the Italian Navy.
Cavo Dragone has held numerous command positions, including the Commander of the Aircraft Carrier Giuseppe Garibaldi, Commander of Naval Aviation Forces, and Commander of the Submarine and Special Forces Group. From 2014 to 2016, he was the Commander of the Italian Special Forces, and in 2016, he became the Commander of Joint Operations.
From June 2019 to November 2021, he served as the Chief of Staff of the Navy, before becoming the Chief of Defense Staff. Throughout his career, Admiral Cavo Dragone has accumulated over 2,500 flight hours and has been awarded numerous honors, including the Knight Grand Cross of the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic.
He is married to Rosa and has three children: Michele, Umberto, and Ginevra Francesca. 

Gabriella Venturini is Professor Emerita, Associate Member of the Institute of International Law/Institut de Droit International and Council Member of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law. She was President of the Italian Branch (ILA Italy) of the International Law Association from 2013 to 2021. Being full Professor of International Law, member of the Board of Directors and member of the Faculty for Ph.D in International Law at the University of Milan, she taught and wrote extensively in the field of public international law including International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights Law, International Disaster Law, Disarmament and Non-proliferation, Space Law, International Trade Law, and EU Law. Gabriella Venturini collaborated with the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs as a member of the Italian delegation at several international meetings, conferences and negotiations, including the United Nations Diplomatic Conference of Plenipotentiaries for the Establishment of an International Criminal Court. She is a member of the board of several Italian and foreign periodicals. 

Tania Atilano is a post-doctoral researcher at Zurich University, where she is conducting research on the practice of the laws of war during the French Intervention in Mexico (1862-1867).
She earned her law degree in Mexico City, where she also worked as a public prosecutor. Tania furthered her studies with an LLM in German Law from Ludwig Maximilians Universität in Munich and earned her Juris Doctor at Humboldt University in Berlin.
Her monograph, International Criminal Law in Mexico: National Legislation, State Practice, and Effective Implementation, was published by Asser-Springer Press in 2021.
Her research interests span the history of the laws of war, international law, criminal law, and international criminal law. 

François Bugnion, Bachelor of Arts and Doctor in Political Sciences, joined the International Committee of the Red Cross in May 1970 and served as delegate in Israel and the occupied territories, Bangladesh, Turkey and Cyprus, and then as head of mission in Chad, Vietnam and Cambodia. From 2000 to 2006, he was director for International Law and Cooperation and, from 2010 to 2017, a member of the ICRC Assembly, the governing body of the organisation.
He published five books and more than one hundred articles on international humanitarian law or Red Cross history, in particular: The International Committee of the Red Cross and the Protection of war Victims, which has been published in French and translated into Chinese, English and Russian.
François Bugnion is a member of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law (Sanremo, Italy) 

Dahl is born 22 feb 49 in Oslo. He is married to Laila Riksaasen Dahl, bishop emerita. They have three adult children, and have been living since 2014 in Nittedal north of Oslo.
Dahl graduated in Law in 1974. He has been working in environmental protection until 1982 when he joined the Military Academy (Army), Oslo, as lecturer in public and military law. From 1988 to retirement in 2014 he was Judge Advocate General for the Norwegian Armed Forces. The Judge Advocate General is leader of the military prosecution authority and adviser for the Chief of Defence in disciplinary matters. The military rank was major general in wartime (until reorganization in 2012).
Dahl has participated extensively in preparing international manuals on international law, beginning with the San Remo Manual of 1994 on armed conflict at sea. Other manuals include:

• The 2006 San Remo Manual on Non-international armed conflicts,
• The 2010 HPCR Manual on Air and Missile Warfare (drafting committee)
• The 2015 Oslo Manual on Select Topics of the Law of Armed conflict (project manager)
• The 2024 Virginia-Georgetown Manual on Jus ad Bellum, which is due to be published 13 November. 

In addition to activities related to legal issues, he has over the years been active in the Christian Democratic Party of Norway as local politician, and for a brief period chair of the Akershus county chapter. For the time being, he chairs the local Y’s Men Club, which supports YMCA, YWCA and related activities for the young. 

Giovanni Mantilla is Associate Professor in the Department of Politics and International Studies (POLIS), and Fellow of Christ’s College and of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge. He specializes in the history and politics of international law and institutions, and has published extensively in leading academic outlets about the history of international humanitarian law. His book “Lawmaking under Pressure: International Humanitarian Law and Internal Armed Conflict” (Cornell University Press, 2020) received the 2021 Francis Lieber award as the best book in the law of armed conflict from American Society of International Law. 

Brigadier Stewart has served in a number of appointments during his career in the Army Legal Services including operational, prosecution and training posts.  He deployed to Kosovo in 1999 as the legal adviser to Commander British Forces.  Over the period 2000 – 2003 he saw further operational duty in Sierra Leone, the Balkans, the Middle East and Afghanistan.
In 2003 he was posted to SHAPE as the Assistant Legal Adviser (UK) advising on NATO operations and then from 2005 – 2006 he also served as the Commander Legal, Headquarters Northern Ireland. In 2006 he was posted to Headquarters Allied Rapid Reaction Corps (HQ ARRC) and deployed to Afghanistan as the Chief Legal Adviser, HQ International Security Assistance Force for Afghanistan (ISAF).  In 2009 he was promoted to Colonel and was appointed Director of the Military Department, International Institute of Humanitarian Law, Sanremo Italy. He left Sanremo in February 2012 to take up post as Chief of Staff, Directorate of Army Legal Services at Army Headquarters Andover in February 2012.  In May 2012 he was appointed on a part time basis to the judicial appointment of Assistant Deputy Coroner for Inner West London (Westminster) and he continues to sit as a coroner part time to this day. In 2016 he was promoted to Brigadier and appointed as the Head of Operational Law for the British Army a post which he recently left to become the General Editor of the UK LOAC Manual 2nd Edition. Brigadier Stewart is a member of the Council of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law. He is also a member of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War and serves on its Board of Directors.   

Leïla Bourguiba is a Senior Legal Advisor on international humanitarian law at Médecins sans Frontières (MSF).
She holds an L.L.M. in International Human Rights and International Humanitarian Law from Paris Panthéon-Assas, France. She served as a Legal Officer for the Chambers of the International Criminal Court (2006-2012) working on different situations as the DRC, Central African Republic, Libya or Darfur.  In 2012, she joined the French War Crimes Unit (Ministry of Justice) essentially on cases prosecuted under universal jurisdiction and served as an asylum judge before joining MSF in 2019.
She is also a lecturer at the iReMMO (Research Institute on Mediterranean and Middle East Countries) and published several articles notably on international criminal law. 

• La France possible havre d’impunité pour criminel syriens ? Un sauvetage in extremis de la compétence universelle des tribunaux français, in Leïla Bourguiba, Justice pénale internationale : les magistrats sauvent l’honneur (Confluences Méditerranée, n°126). 

• Is the opposition between civil law and common law criminal procedure the lock or key to international(ized) Tribunals’ success? in Sharon Weill, Kim Thuy Seelinger, Kerstin Bree Carlson (eds), The President on Trial: Prosecuting Hissène Habré (Oxford, 2020). 

• The role of the judiciary in the Enhancement of Quality in the National Investigation and Preparation of Core international crimes cases in Quality Control in Criminal Investigation (CILRAP, 2020). 

• Article 61 : Confirmation des charges avant le procès, in J. Fernandez, X. Pacreau, Statut de Rome de la Cour pénale internationale, commentaire article par article (Editions Pédone, 2019). 

Alexander Breitegger has been Legal Adviser at the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) since February 2011. His work is focused on international humanitarian law related to the legal protection of the wounded and sick and the delivery of healthcare. In that capacity, he has been supporting inter alia, the ICRC’s project on updating the commentaries on the Geneva Conventions, as well as the Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement (Movement) Health Care in Danger (HCiD) initiative.
He was also involved in the process leading to the adoption of multilateral resolutions on this issue, for instance UN Security Council Resolution 2286. His other thematic files include legal protection of persons with disabilities in armed conflict; the use of force in law enforcement and the relationship between IHL and IHRL. 

Professor Corn currently holds the George R. Killam, Jr. Chair of Criminal Law and Directorship of the Center for Military Law and Policy at Texas Tech University School of Law. Prior to joining the Texas Tech faculty, he spent 17 years as a professor at South Texas College of Law Houston.
Prior to joining the academia, he served in the U.S. Army for 21 years as an officer, retiring in the rank of Lieutenant Colonel in 2004; followed by one year as civilian legal expert on law of war matters. His military career culminated as the U.S. Army’s senior expert advisor on all international humanitarian law issues. Prior to serving in that position, Prof. Corn served as tactical intelligence officer in Panama; supervisory defense counsel for the Western United States; Chief of International Law for US Army Europe; Professor of International and National Security Law at the US Army Judge Advocate General’s School; and Chief Prosecutor for the 101 Airborne Division.
He earned his B.A. in 1984 from Hartwick College in Oneonta, NY; then a JD in 1992 (highest honors) from George Washington University; and an LLM in 1996 (Distinguished Graduate/first in class) from the U.S. Army Judge Advocate General’s School. Professor Corn is also a distinguished military graduate of U.S. Army Officer Candidate School and a graduate of U.S. Army Command and General Staff College. He has testified as an expert witness, amici, or served as an expert consultant on cases before the Military Commission in Guantanamo, the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia, and in U.S. federal court.
He has authored more than 60 scholarly articles and am co-author of The Law of Armed Conflict: An Operational Perspective (Second Edition); The Laws of War and the War on Terror (Second Edition); National Security Law: Principles and Policy; U.S. Military Operations: Law, Policy, and Practice; National Security Law and the Constitution; Law in War: Concise Overview (Second Edition); and Criminal Law: Concepts, Crimes, and Defenses. 

Born in Centuripe on 17 November 1955, and resident in Padua, Dr Mammana is a medical surgeon and senior military officer with an extensive career in both the military and healthcare sectors.
He graduated in Medicine and Surgery from the University of Florence cum laude, and subsequently obtained specialisations in General Surgery, Cardio-Angio-Surgery, Anaesthesia and Resuscitation, Hygiene and Preventive Medicine. He also completed advanced courses in healthcare management at Bocconi University Milan.
His military career began in 1983 at the Padua Military Hospital, where he was progressively promoted to the rank of Lieutenant General. He has directed surgical departments and military hospitals, including the Policlinico Militare di Roma ‘Celio’. He has participated in numerous missions abroad, including operations in Mozambique, Somalia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Kosovo, Iraq and Libya, gaining extensive experience in war surgery and emergency settings.
Academically, Dr. Mammana has been Adjunct Professor in War Surgery at the Universities of Padua and Pisa and has taught at the University of Rome Tor Vergata. He has published numerous scientific articles in authoritative journals and is a member of the Governing Council of the Interdepartmental Centre for the Study of Ethics in Military Affairs. 

A Netherlands’ Royal Military Acadamy graduate, Jan Peter Spijk (1956) read constitutional and admistrative law at Leiden University and graduated cum laude in 1990. Having gained experience in the fields of operational law, he was promoted to Brigadier General in 2004 and appointed Director, Personnel Policy, at the Ministry of Defence in The Hague.
In 2006, Brig Gen Spijk was appointed Netherlands’ Contingent Commander in Kabul, Afghanistan. In 2007 he attended the Royal College for Defence Studies and read International Studies at King’s College London, UK. Subsequently, he was appointed Director Manpower and Personnel Policy at NATO’s Allied Command Operations, SHAPE, Belgium. From 2010 until 2013 Brig Gen Spijk was Head of the Military Legal Services (TJAG) of the Netherlands’ Armed Forces and Senior Military Judge in the Military Chamber of the Court of Appeals.
From 2012 until 2018, Jan Peter Spijk was President of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War, after previous terms as its Vice President & Seminar Director. During his tenure, the Society significantly increased its global posture, In May 2018 he was elected Honorary President; he continues to participate in the Socirty’s Board of Directors.
Having maintained a close relationship with the International Institute for Humanitarian Law (IIHL) for many years, he was appointed to the Board of the Foundation of the IIHL in 2015. In 2019 he was elected Member of the Council of the IIHL. As a Judge in the Competitions on LOAC/IHL for Military Academies he is a regular visitor to the Institute.
Jan Peter Spijk currently chairs independent Advisory Boards for the minister of Defence and the minister of the Insterior of the Kingdom of the Netherlands and is an independent Senior Legal Advisor to the Permanent Scretary of the MoD. He also presiders over the Natherlands’ Military Law Review Editorial Board. He is married to Dr. Wendy Boesder Spijk; they live in the Northeastern part of the Netherlands. Hobbies include reading, gardening and cycling – over modest distances. 

Professor Dr. Wolff Heintschel von Heinegg is the Chair of Public Law, in particular Public International law, European Law and Foreign Constitutional Law at the Europa-Universität Viadrina in Frankfurt (Oder), Germany. In the academic years 2003/2004 and 2012/2013 he was the Charles H. Stockton Professor of International Law at the U.S. Naval War College.
From October 2004 until October 2008, he was the Dean of the Law Faculty of the Europa-Universität. From October 2008 until November 2012, he was the Vice-President of that university.
Previously, he served as Professor of Public International Law at the University of Augsburg. He was a Visiting Professor at the Universities of Kaliningrad (Russia), Almaty (Kazakhstan), Santiago de Cuba (Cuba), Nice (France) and of the Australian National University in Canberra.
He was the Rapporteur of the International Law Association Committee on Maritime Neutrality and was the Vice-President of the German Society of Military Law and the Law of War. From 2007 until 2016 he was a member of the Council of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law in San Remo, Italy. From May 2012 until May 2018, he was the Vice-President and since May 2018 he has been the President of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War. Since May 2013 he has been a Senior Fellow of the Cooperative Cyber Defence Centre of Excellence in Tallinn, Estonia. Professor Heintschel von Heinegg was among a group of international lawyers and naval experts who produced the San Remo Manual on International Law Applicable to Armed Conflicts at Sea. He was a member of several groups of experts working on the current state and progressive development of international humanitarian law, including the Manual on Air and Missile Warfare (2010), the Tallinn Manuals on the International Law Applicable to Cyber Warfare (2013) and to Cyber Operations (2016), the Oslo Manual on Select Topics of the Law of Armed Conflict (2020), and the Newport Manual on the Law of Naval Warfare (2023).
He is a widely published author of articles and books on public international law, in particular international humanitarian law, European and German constitutional law.  

Anna Petrig is Professor of International Law and Public Law at the University of Basel in Switzerland. She holds a PhD in the field of the Law of the Sea and Human Rights Law from the University of Basel and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School, where she studied as a Fulbright scholar. Anna is a member of the Bar of the Canton of Berne (Switzerland) and of the New York State Bar (USA). Her broad legal experience includes work in private practice, the courts, and the Legal Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC). Anna teaches and researches in different areas of international law, with a focus on law of the sea, international humanitarian law and international dispute settlement. She provides advice, undertakes consultancies and interacts with the media in these fields of law. Anna has been a member of the Swiss delegation and the Delegation of the Comité Maritime International (CMI) to the International Maritime Organization (IMO). She was sitting as Judge ad hoc for Switzerland on the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS) in Cases 27 and 29. She currently acts as a board member of the Swiss Society for International Law and is a member of the scientific board of the Swiss Society for Military Law and the Law of War. Anna is Co-Rapporteur of the ILA Committee on Protection of People at Sea. 

Fausto Pocar is Professor Emeritus of International Law, former Dean and Vice-Rector at the University of Milan, Italy. He served two terms as President of the International Institute of Humanitarian Law from 2012 to 2019. On 7 September 2019 the new Council unanimously elected Prof. Pocar as Honorary President of the Institute. 
Prof. Pocar has more than 30 years of association with the United Nations. In 2000 he was appointed as Appeal Judge to the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and for Rwanda (ICTR). He served as Vice-President and subsequently as President (2005-2008) of the ICTY, and presided over many Yugoslavian and Rwandan cases, both at The Hague and Arusha. 
He served for sixteen years, also as Rapporteur and Chairman, in the UN Human Rights Committee under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. Further, he served as Special Representative of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights visiting Chechnya and the Russian Federation during the first conflict in 1995-1996. 
He has also been a Legal Adviser of the Italian delegation to the UN General Assembly and the Commission on Human Rights chairing the informal working group that drafted the Declaration on the rights of people belonging to national or ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities, adopted in 1992 by the General Assembly. For a decade he was also the Italian Delegate to the UN Committee on the Peaceful Uses of Outer Space and its Legal Subcommittee and is currently a member of the panel of arbitrators on outer space matters of the Permanent Court of Arbitration. 
He is a member of the Bureau of the “Institut de Droit International” and of other scientific associations. He has lectured at the Hague Academy of International Law and has received many recognitions for his activity, including Doctorates honoris causa in Antwerp and Buenos Aires, and recently he has been appointed “Cavaliere di Gran Croce” by the President of the Republic, which is the highest honour of the Italian Republic.  

Saito, Yusuke is a captain in the Japan Maritime Self-Defense Force (JMSDF). Currently he is deputy director of Operational Law Office, Japan Maritime Self- Defense Force Command and Staff College (CSC). His specialties at JMSDF are anti-submarine warfare and operational law.
At sea, he served at Destroyer Matsuyuki (DD 130), Destroyer Atago (DDG 177), Destroyer Kirisame (DD 104), Destroyer Yamayuki (DD 129). At Yuudachi, he served as the executive officer and deployed to Gulf of Aden for Anti-Piracy Operation from Oct 10, 2021 to Apr 11, 2022. From July, 2022 to March 2023, he took command of Destroyer Amagiri (DD 154).
Ashore, his staff assignments include the office of Legal Affairs General, Joint Staff. At Joint Staff, he was responsible for LOAC, space law, LAWS and law of the sea.
As a visiting researcher, he worked at Washington D.C.-based think tank, Center for a New American Security. As a military professor, he served at Stockton Center for International Law, U.S. Naval War College. After his service at the U.S. Naval War College, he received the Distinguished Service Medal from the United States.
He graduated from the National Defense Academy of Japan in 2004 and he holds a master’s degree of science in Foreign Service from Walsh School of Foreign Service, Georgetown University. 

Abby Zeith is a Legal Adviser in the Arms and Conduct of Hostilities Unit in the ICRC’s Legal Division. Her work focuses on urban warfare and the application of the rules governing the conduct of hostilities under international humanitarian law more generally. Before joining the ICRC, Abby served in the Australian Army as both a Signals officer and a Legal officer. She also has experience with the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission, the UN International Law Commission and Just Security. Abby holds a Master of Laws (International Legal Studies) from New York University and Bachelors of Laws (Hons) and Journalism from the Queensland University of Technology. 

Ambassador Marja Lehto is Senior expert at the Finnish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, and has previously served, inter alia, as Ambassador of Finland to Luxembourg and Director of the Unit of Public International Law at the MFA. She is also Adjunct Professor of international law at the University of Helsinki.
Since 2017, she is member of the UN International Law Commission and Special Rapporteur for the topic ‘Protection of the environment in relation to armed conflicts’.
She is member of the Council of the International Institute for Humanitarian Law. 

Dr Alice Edwards was appointed in July 2022 by the UN Human Rights Council to the position of UN Special Rapporteur on Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman Treatment or Punishment. She took office on 1 August 2022. Dr Edwards, an established human rights lawyer and academic, is the first woman to fill the United Nations’ second oldest expert mandate.
She is the seventh Special Rapporteur on Torture, and the first woman, to hold the post.
As the UN’s leading expert on torture, Dr Edwards is at the forefront of global efforts to combat torture. Her role includes conducting fact-finding country visits and pursuing justice for victims of state-sanctioned violence.
Between 2016 and 2021 Dr Edwards headed the Secretariat of the Convention against Torture Initiative (CTI),an initiative of the governments of Chile, Denmark, Fiji, Ghana, Indonesia and Morocco, which aimed at achieving universal ratification and implementation of the UN Convention against Torture (UNCAT). 
Prior to this, Dr Edwards was the Principal Legal Coordinator and Chief of Protection Policy and Legal Advice at the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR). She was responsible for initiating and leading the implementation of the UNHCR’s Global Strategy – Beyond Detention, a blueprint for action to support governments to end the routine detention of asylum seekers through constructive dialogue, technical advice and capacity building. Dr Edwards drafted the first set of guidelines on gender-related persecution and the current guidelines on detention and alternatives to detention.
Dr Edwards has spent her twenty-five-year career working for the rights of victims of human rights violations, including in the major conflict situations of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Mozambique and Rwanda. Among her achievements is the now globally recognised doctrine that rape and sexual violence are forms of torture and persecution, meriting international refugee protection. Her book, Violence Against Women under International Human Rights Law has influenced policies in a number of countries. She was also responsible for initiatives in advising States on reforming domestic laws to include torture as a prosecutable offence.

Colonel Nigel Heppenstall was commissioned into Army Legal Services (ALS) in 1998 following a three-year short service commission in the 3rd Battalion of the Parachute Regiment. He has served in all three specialisms of the ALS (operations, advisory and prosecutions). As a Major he deployed on operations to Kosovo as a Brigade legal officer with the Headquarters of 7 Armoured Brigade; and to Georgia (in the Former Soviet Union) with the United Nations Observer Mission to investigate ceasefire violations. Subsequently he served a tour in the MOD advising on UK domestic counter-terrorist operations.
On promotion to Lt Col he was the last Commander Legal in Northern Ireland for the end of Army support to the Police during ‘the Troubles.’ As an exchange officer he spent two years with the US Army JAG Corps, including a deployment with the 101st Airborne Division supporting the rule of law team in Bagram, Afghanistan. He later led the UK Detention Oversight Team in Afghanistan visiting insurgents who had been detained by UK Forces and transferred into the Afghan prison system. He was Commander Legal in HQ 3 (UK) Division.
He promoted to Colonel in 2016, serving as Assistant Head Op Law before deploying to Kabul as a ministerial mentor to the Afghan Ministry of the Interior. He served as DACOS Legal in Home Command (responsible for recruiting and training, 2018-2020). He was Chief Legal Adviser to the Commander of the Field Army from 2020-23. In 2023, he became Director of the Military Department at the International Institute of Humanitarian Law. He is a graduate of both the Intermediate Army and the Advanced Joint staff courses. He is married to Katharine and has two grown-up children. 

Ramin Mahnad is Senior Legal Advisor at the headquarters of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva. Over seventeen years with the ICRC, he has served in Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, the Philippines, and the United States. Ramin currently works on issues related to deprivation of liberty and on compliance with international humanitarian law.
Ramin is a member of the New York State Bar and holds a Juris Doctor from the George Washington University, a Masters in international law from the Graduate Institute in Geneva, and a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science from the University of California Berkeley. 

Jelena Pejic is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Lieber Institute for Law and Warfare at the US Military Academy at West Point and was the Institute’s Lieber Scholar for 2023. She is a Member of the Board of Editors at Just Security, and also serves on the Board of the Belgrade Center for Human Rights. Ms. Pejic has been a practitioner and scholar of international humanitarian law (IHL) for over 25 years. She is a former Senior Legal Adviser in the Legal Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in Geneva, during which time she dealt, among other things, with issues related to the protection of persons under IHL and other bodies of international law, including detention. Between 2011-2019 she was also responsible for the ICRC’s work on the joint Swiss-ICRC initiative on “Strengthening Compliance with IHL”. In her earlier career Ms Pejic was a Senior Program Coordinator in the New York office of the Lawyers Committee for Human Rights (now Human Rights First), a lecturer in international law and international relations at Belgrade University Law School and a journalist. She holds an LLM degree from Columbia University Law School in New York, and a law degree from Belgrade University Law School. 

Carrie F. Ricci was confirmed by the United States Senate on December 14, 2021 and was sworn in as the 23rd General Counsel of the United States Army on January 3, 2022. As General Counsel, she is the chief lawyer of the Army ultimately responsible for determining the Army’s position on any legal question. She serves as legal counsel to the Secretary of the Army, Under Secretary, the five Assistant Secretaries, and members of the Army Secretariat.
For nine years prior to her appointment, Ms. Ricci served as a Senior Executive with the United States Department of Agriculture, first as an Assistant General Counsel, then as the Associate General Counsel, Marketing, Regulatory, and Food Safety Programs, where she led a team that provided legal services to two Under Secretaries and three agencies. Her preceding assignment was as Assistant General Counsel, Office of General Counsel, Department of Defense Education Activity.
In 2010, Ms. Ricci retired from the U.S. Army after 20 years of active military service. At the time of her retirement, Ms. Ricci served as Assistant General Counsel, Office of the General Counsel, U.S. Army, where she advised the Secretary of the Army and other senior Army leaders on legal and policy issues concerning all areas of military personnel management. Other key military assignments include: Deputy Staff Judge Advocate, U.S. Army Intelligence and Security Command; Chief, International Law, U.S. Central Command (USCENTCOM); Administrative Law Attorney, Office of the Judge Advocate General; Trial Counsel and Operational Law Attorney, 4th Infantry Division; and Platoon Leader in Operations DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM.
In 2020, Ms. Ricci served on the Fort Hood Independent Review Committee, a five member panel of Highly Qualified Experts appointed by the Secretary of the Army to conduct a review of the Fort Hood command climate and assess its impact on its soldiers and units, particularly as it related to preventing sexual assault and sexual harassment.
Ms. Ricci is a 1988 ROTC graduate of Georgetown University and entered active duty as an Adjutant General Corps officer (human resources) and later attended law school through the Army’s Funded Legal Education Program, graduating from the University of Maryland School of Law. She earned a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) from The Judge Advocate General’s Legal Center and School, and a second LL.M from George Washington University School of Law. She is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and holds a certificate in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in the Workplace from the University of South Florida.
Ms. Ricci is a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation and is a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement award from the Hispanic National Bar Association.

Brigadier Jo Bowen studied Law at Southampton University and Chester Law School before commissioning into the Army Legal Service in 1996. In 2001, she attended Nottingham University where she was awarded a Distinction in a LLM in International Criminal Justice and the Law of Armed Conflict.
As a Captain she served in London and then the new Army Prosecuting Authority. As a Major she deployed to North Macedonia and then to Kosovo with the NATO mission, before serving in Germany with the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps.
Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel in 2004, she deployed for a year to the NATO HQ in Skopje before being posted to the Supreme Headquarters of Allied Powers in Europe (SHAPE) in Belgium. In 2006 she was awarded the NATO Meritorious Service Medal for exceptional services to NATO. In 2008 she moved to the MOD in London as a legal staff officer working on International Law. After Staff College, she wrote the UK’s doctrine on handling Captured Persons. She then deployed to Afghanistan to conduct oversight visits with Taleban fighters held in Afghan prisons. She then advised on legal issues arising in current operations for UK missions around the world.
After a variety of legal staff jobs she was promoted to Colonel in 2015 and advised at the highest levels in Army recruitment and training, defence intelligence and with joint forces.
She attended the Royal College of Defence Studies in 2023 and was promoted to Brigadier, and took up the role of Head of Operational Law in January 2024.
Married to Frederic, who is serving in the French Navy, she spends most of her spare time travelling to her home in Bergerac. Interests include running, fine wine and good food sometimes together during the Marathon de Medoc.

With over 17 years of dedicated service, Houda has contributed to various protection roles within UNHCR in challenging refugee, IDP, and mixed movement contexts in operations like Iraq, Syria, and the Central African Republic. Currently at UNHCR Headquarters in Geneva, she serves as the Senior Legal Officer (IHL) and recently joined the Emergency/POC Unit within the division of International Protection. A lawyer by profession, Houda holds two master’s degrees: one in International Public Law and the other in Human Rights and Democratization. 

Mikhail Orkin is a Legal Adviser in the Commentaries Update Unit at the International Committee of the Red Cross. Previously, Mikhail was an operational legal adviser at the ICRC Delegation in Israel and the Occupied Territories. Mikhail has diverse legal experience as a legal adviser, prosecutor, and trial advocate. Mikhail has a Bachelor of Laws from University College London, an LL.M. from Tel-Aviv University and an LL.M. in International Human Rights and Humanitarian Law from American University Washington College of Law.   

Marten Zwanenburg is Professor of Military Law at the University of Amsterdam and at the Faculty of Military Sciences of the Netherlands Defence Academy. Previously, he held posts as legal counsel at the ministry of Defence and subsequently at the ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands, where he advised on IHL and other issues of international law regarding peace and security. Professor Zwanenburg a member of the Editorial Boards of the Military Law and the Law of War Review and of the Militair Rechtelijk Tijdschrift (Military Law Review, in Dutch). Professor Zwanenburg’s research centers on international conflict and security law, with a particular interest in new technology. He is one of the peer reviewers of the updated ICRC commentary to the fourth Geneva Convention. 

After graduating in 1993 as an Attorney-at-law from the University of Bern, Carl Marchand served as Legal Adviser in various civilian positions in the Swiss Armed Forces. Since 2008, he is Head of the international law branch of the Swiss MoD, including IHL/IHRL and operational issues of the Swiss Armed Forces.
During the last 20 years, he was Course Director of various international Seminars on IHL/IHRL in Switzerland. Since 2001, he is the part of the visiting teaching staff at the International Institute for IHL in Sanremo (IIHL). Since 2014, he is a member of the IIHL Council. He holds the position as one of the Vice Presidents of the IIHL.
Carl Marchand is also a member of the Swiss Interdepartmental Committee on IHL and was from 2011 until 2019 President of the Swiss National Group of the International Society for Military Law and the Law of War. He is member of the Board of Directors of this International Society.
From 2008 on, he teaches as Class Leader in the ICRC “Senior WS on International Rules Governing Mil. Ops” (SWIRMO).
He also advises the ICRC on other projects (e.g. urban warfare or the promotion of operational legal advice).
These activities were accompanied by various assignments as operational Legal Adviser in the field. In the last mission, he was Chief LEGAD in NATO/KFOR.
Colonel Carl Marchand is an infantry reserve officer. He served as intelligence officer on battalion and regimental levels. After various assignments as Senior Legal Adviser in the Army Staff he currently is Legal Adviser of the Swiss Special Forces Command. 

COLONEL Nathalie DURHIN:  Nathalie DURHIN graduated in Public Law from “Sciences Po Paris” in 1992. She joined the French Air Force in 1995, and got a specialization in International Humanitarian Law. She also obtained a master degree in International Relations and Military Strategy from the Universities of Milan and Rome (2010).
She was Legal Advisor (LEGAD) for the Balkans region at NATO JFC Naples (2001-2002), and Chief Admin of Nancy Air Base (2006-2009). She headed the LOAC bureau within the Department of legal affairs at the French Ministry of defense (2010-2013), then the Operational Law section at the French Joint Staff (2013-2016). She was also LEGAD of the Inspector-General for the French Air Force (2017-2019). From 2019 to 2023, she was the Operational Law Branch Head within SHAPE Office of Legal Affairs (NATO – Belgium).
She has been deployed as LEGAD in Kosovo and Bosnia, two times in Afghanistan, at Naples CJTF for Operation Unified Protector (Libya), and for the French operations Serval and Barkhane in Mali and Chad. In 2016, she has been assigned in New York, as a military expert within the team of the Special Coordinator on improving UN response to sexual exploitation and abuse (SEA).
Since September 2023, she is a faculty advisor within the French War College in Paris, managing one of the 14 groups of international students, and overseeing their legal training. 

Dr. Yvette Issar is a Geneva-based international lawyer. Currently, she is the Director of The Olerai Lab, a venture she launched in 2024 to amplify effective solutions to global challenges by promoting interdisciplinary collaborations.
Her professional career spans various roles with prominent non-governmental and international organizations. Most recently, she served the United Nations Office for Disarmament Affairs (UNODA), where she contributed to the work of the Implementation Support Unit of the Biological Weapons Convention, in particular by strengthening compliance of the Convention on the African continent. Prior to this, she served for over five years in the Legal Division of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC), on the institution’s project to update its Commentaries on the 1949 Geneva Conventions.
In addition, she has previously contributed to the work of several international organizations, NGOs and academic institutions, including the University of Geneva, the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE), the United Nations Institute for Disarmament Research (UNIDIR), the Quaker United Nations Office (QUNO), and Geneva Call.
Dr. Yvette Issar earned her Ph.D. in Law from the University of Geneva. Her research interests are centered on the humanitarian engagement of armed non-state actors, detention in armed conflict, and humanitarian disarmament initiatives.

Michael Schmitt is the G. Norman Lieber Distinguished Scholar at West Point’s Liber Institute, Professor Emeritus and Charles H. Stockton Distinguished Scholar-in-Residence at the US Naval War College, and Professor of International Law at the University of Reading School of Law. 

Mr. Jean-Pierre Lacroix is the Under-Secretary-General for Peace Operations.
Mr. Lacroix brings to the position over 25 years of political and diplomatic experience, with a focus on multilateral organizations, and on United Nations activities and programmes.
Mr. Lacroix served from 2014 to 2017 as Director for United Nations, International Organizations, Human Rights and Francophonie at the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
His previous appointments include Ambassador of France to Sweden, Chief of Protocol of France, Deputy Permanent Representative at the Permanent Mission of France to the United Nations in New York, Deputy Chief of Mission at the French Embassy in Prague and First Secretary then Second Counsellor at the French Embassy in Washington.
He also served as Advisor at the Cabinet of the French Prime Minister.
Born on 2 May 1960, Mr. Lacroix holds BAs from the Institute of Economic and Commercial Sciences (ESSEC), the Institute for Political Studies – Sciences Po Paris and the National School of Administration (ENA), as a graduate of the Class “Michel de Montaigne.”