CYIL vol. 8 (2017)

PAVEL ŠTURMA CYIL 8 ȍ2017Ȏ French. His Habilitation work “Les conséquences juridiques du délit en droit international contemporain” (AUC Iuridica, Monographia III, Prague, 1965) has been largely cited abroad, including by the Special Rapporteur(s) of the UN International Law Commission with respect to the codification of State responsibility. Among his important publications are Treaty and Custom in International Law (AUC Monographia XLIII, 1984), two commentaries on draft Articles on State responsibility and the Vienna Convention of the Law of Treaties (respectively in 1985 and 1986). The latter was reissued in 1999 and, in largely amended version, as the Law of International Treaties (in co-authorship with P. Šturma and V. Balaš) in 2011. Most of Čepelka’s views were explained in two editions of his Introduction to (the Theory of ) International Law (1978, 1983). This theoretical book (in co-authorship with prof. Vladislav David) also became an alternative textbook used at the Faculty of Law in Brno and eventually in Prague and initiated a fruitful debate on the Czech doctrine of international law. More recent publications include e.g. Refugeehood and Asylum in International Law (1997) and International Responsibility (2003), both written together with D. Jílek and P. Šturma, and the new, comprehensive textbook Public International Law (with P. Šturma, 2003 and 2008). Professor Čepelka also had research stays and lectures at some foreign universities, in particular Université Libre de Bruxelles, where he met his old friend Professor Jean Salmon, McGill University in Montreal and the Institut des Hautes Etudes Internationales, Université Paris 2 (Panthéon – Assas). As a legal expert he also took part in the preparation of a position of the Czechoslovak federal government in the case Gabčíkovo – Nagymaros. Even after his retirement (1993) Č. Čepelka remained active in the field of international law he loved so much. From 1991 he founded and chaired, together with Prof. Michael Geistlinger (University of Salzburg), a regular summer seminar on human rights and international humanitarian law. This extremely stimulating cooperation lasted ten years and influenced a good number of young lawyers. In the second half of the 1990s, Č. Čepelka also acted as visiting professor at the Faculty of Law of Masaryk University in Brno. At the beginning of the new century, he came back shortly to the Faculty of Law in Prague to help in renewing or launching several specialized courses, such as the Codification and development of international law and the Theory and practice of asylum. Although he stopped lecturing at the age of 80, Professor Čepelka still keeps writing. He also supported the idea to establish this Czech Yearbook and became a member of its Advisory Board as well as one of its frequent authors. Notwithstanding the text of Aznavour’s recent song, maybe avec un brin de nostalgie , his colleagues, friends and students sincerely wishe Professor Čepelka good health, joy and relaxation in the circle of his family and a never-ending interest in new developments, reading and writing on international law. Pavel Šturma*

* Prof. JUDr. Pavel Šturma, DrSc ., is Head of the Department of International Law, Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague, senior research fellow at the Institute of Law of the Czech Academy of Sciences, President of the Czech Society of International Law and member of the UN International Law Commission. He is a co- author of the textbook Public International Law and author of many publications on codification of international law, international criminal law, human rights and international investment law.

612