Editorial #52: Kindness Comes On Top

Most readers would agree that the international legal order is not doing very well. I cannot gauge whether international lawyers as a professional community are doing well, but I assume that the precarious financial situation of the UN and other international organizations, as well as funding cuts in academia (see e.g. in the US, UK, the Netherlands and Berlin) and the general state of the globe, do not exactly brighten the mood of (both aspiring and established) international lawyers.

Nonetheless, my personal experience of working with and around international lawyers has been nothing but positive – which leads us to this Editorial’s topic.

From my first encounter with international law as a Jessup competitor until today, I have had the great fortune to meet – almost exclusively – incredibly kind people. In academia, as in other professional contexts, we tend to compliment people on the quality of their work, their wisdom or intelligence. And I have certainly met many international lawyers who impress and inspire me with their work and dedication. But you can find such people in every academic or professional field. What really stood out to me in my interactions with international lawyers was their kindness. Colleagues, in the broadest sense of the word, have treated me with a level of respect, readiness to help, generosity, encouragement and patience that has left me speechless at times. The interactions at conferences, with this Blog’s other editors, authors and reviewers, colleagues, teachers and students have been a true pleasure. Early-career researchers, esteemed professors and practitioners of all ages have met me with exemplary collegiality.

Now, you might say that I have only met a very limited number of international lawyers and have a limited control group. While that is true, I can say that my experience in other professional or social contexts has been less rosy. While I have met great people in other fields, workplaces or hobby communities, the kindness of international lawyers still stands out to me.

You might also say that I am just lucky. I certainly am, and I am sure there are unpleasant international lawyers out there that I just have not met. However, it would take many bad experiences in the next years to make me reverse my assertion that international lawyers are, comparatively, a very nice group of people.

Finally, you might say that my experience as a white male is shaped by privilege, and that people of other backgrounds have very different experiences. Again, that is certainly true. My account remains a completely subjective one. I hope that everyone who treated me well treats everyone else the same way, regardless of personal or other characteristics. After all, collegiality is not measured by how well we treat those we like most, but by how we treat those we like least.

While I am grateful for my positive experience, I wonder whether there is any specific reason behind the collegiality of international lawyers – and what happens in opposite cases. Kindness and professional integrity are not the same thing, but one without the other is incomplete. Perhaps surprisingly, there is little sustained discussion about international lawyers’ professional integrity as a community. Professional responsibility, legal ethics and collegiality are mostly the subject of national regulations, bodies and, consequently, debates. There is no bar association for international lawyers and no common code of conduct (certain documents directed at attorneys come somewhat close, like the UN Basic Principles on the Role of Lawyers, the IBA International Code of Ethics and International Principles on Conduct for the Legal Profession, and the CCBE Code of conduct for European lawyers). While legal and professional ethics is routinely taught in law schools of some countries (like the US), it is invisible in others (like Germany). Rules on scientific integrity (like the DFG code of conduct), while important, do not address the specific responsibility of international lawyers towards society.

It seems to me that there is room to formalize the community’s kindness into clear principles of conduct. Practicing international law should be held to standards at least comparable to those governing domestic legal practice. These standards might include the principles of truthfulness, dignity and integrity of the legal profession, as well as respect for the rule of law and the fair administration of justice. We owe this to our colleagues, the public, and the international legal system as a whole. The community of international lawyers is certainly not immune to misconduct or irresponsible action. Government lawyers should advise their governments frankly against violating the law. Advocates before the ICJ should not misrepresent the facts or advance cynical positions that no honest understanding of the law can sustain. Politicians with a background in international law should know better than to defend the dismantling of the international legal order. Scholars in particular should ensure that their publications adhere to scientific integrity. All these are the foundations, and kindness comes on top.

This text might read as if it was written by someone at the end of their career, not the beginning. Thinking and writing about this topic at such an early stage gives me the opportunity to have a benchmark to look back at a later point in my life. It also allows me to close this editorial with two points: First, I am very thankful to this community. You, dear reader, are part of what makes this community worth writing about – not only because of that interesting article you published or that award you received, but because you treat others with respect, kindness and support. Second, I would be glad to hear about your personal experiences with the international law community that might well be very different from my own, although I hope others have had the same experience as I have. You can reach me at corneo@voelkerrechtsblog.org.