Goodbye Göran

I long ago stopped blogging, but a recent development inspires me to briefly return from retirement. As some of you already know, Prof. Göran Sluiter, an energetic, entrepreneurial, and pathbreaking scholar of international and comparative criminal law and procedure, has passed away much too soon after a battle with cancer. Prof. Sluiter was just 55.  

A longtime professor at the University of Amsterdam, Göran’s work was well known for skillfully combining insights from domestic criminal law, regional human rights law, and international criminal law. He wrote about everything from the prosecution of international offenses before domestic courts to the harmonization and diversity of procedural mechanisms across regional and international tribunals. He understood more about hybridity in criminal procedure than anyone. He was extraordinarily productive and his many books and articles carry an influence that survives him. He brought his scholarly insights to his work as a practicing lawyer, and then reimported his insights from legal practice to give his academic work renewed impact and relevance.

In addition to the scholarly influence of his many publications, Göran wielded enormous influence on the invisible college of international lawyers through his sponsorship of major research projects that brought together young and established scholars from across the globe. One monumental project involved an unprecedented systematization of principles of international criminal procedure, resulting in a mammoth volume published by Oxford University Press, International Criminal Procedure: Principles and Rules. A second project just concluded involving a systematization of principles of secondary liability in domestic, regional and international systems. The results of this latter project will appear in a forthcoming volume published by Cambridge University Press. Göran directed the project despite his cancer diagnosis.  Although Göran did not live to see its final publication, his influence, work, and spirit will appear on every page of a book that should be widely read. I was privileged to be involved in both projects, as were many other researchers, authors, and editors, but the guiding force behind both projects was Göran and his bold and refined vision for international scholarship. And these were just two projects among many academic endeavors that he sponsored or created during his brief career.

I owe much to Göran.  When I was a mere post-doctoral researcher that nobody knew, and then a first-year assistant professor, Göran invited me to several conferences that introduced me to the global community of international law—not just scholars but practicing lawyers, judges, and diplomats. Even the students who attended those conferences have become, two decades later, the scholars and lawyers who are now leaders of the field. Without those conferences, and the relationships formed there, I would never have developed the network that I now enjoy. This story is by no means unique to me. Göran was responsible for selflessly rolling out the professional lives of hundreds of young masters and doctoral students, post-doctoral associates, and other young researchers.  Göran’s passing, much too soon, is a loss for many of them, but their work, and Göran’s influence on the field through them, endures and thrives.  A unique scholar among us has passed, but his voice has not fallen silent.