CYIL vol. 10 (2019)

CYIL 10 ȍ2019Ȏ

IIR CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW

IIR CENTRE FOR INTERNATIONAL LAW Veronika Bílková *

Since February 2016, a new Centre for International Law (CIL) has been operating in Prague, Czech Republic. This centre is part of the Institute of International Relations (IIR), a leading Czech research institution in the area of international relations, international law, and foreign policy. The IIR was established in 1957 by the (then) Czechoslovak Ministry of Foreign Affairs and although it has had the status of a public research institution since 2007, it has maintained a close relationship with the (now) Czech Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The original name, the Institute of International Politics and Economics (IIPE), was changed into the current name, the IIR, in 1970. Having lived through some difficult periods in its history, when independent research was not really encouraged (e.g. the normalization period after 1968), the IIR has by now become a fully independent research institution, seeking to generate excellent research and to provide policy-oriented advice on various aspects of the Czech foreign policy. In the mid-2010s, the IIR started to establish, in its framework, research centres focussing on specific areas of international relations. By now, seven such centres have been created, though one, the Centre for Gender and Global Justice, was short-lived. The remaining six centres are: the Centre for European Security, the Centre for International Law, the Centre for EU-Asia Relations, the Centre for Energy Policy, the Centre for Political Economy, and the Centre for European Integration. The choice of the issue areas reflects the research profiles of IIR researchers and the priorities of Czech foreign policy. The Centre for International Law came to existence as the second one in the row and, over the years, it has proved itself as one of the most active centres at the IIR. It has also ranked among the leading research institutions in international law in the Czech Republic. The CIL deals with all areas of public international law. It however pays special attention to human rights, international humanitarian law, international criminal law, the use of force, the fight against terrorism, nuclear non-proliferation, and the theory of international law. The CIL remains ready to expand its priority issue areas, depending on its human capacity and the needs of Czech foreign policy. Over the years, the CIL has obtained, through public competition, several research projects that have allowed its researchers to carry out original and in-depth research related to specific topics of international law. In the very first year of its existence, it conducted research within a project pertaining to the Use of Force against the So-Called Islamic State, which was funded by the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. Since 2018, it has been involved in cooperation with the Faculty of Law of Charles University in Prague, in a project on Human Rights of Older Person, funded by the Czech Scientific Foundation. Finally, since 2019, the CIL has been tasked to do research on Topical Issues of International Law, again under the auspices of the Technology Agency of the Czech Republic. The CIL presents the outcomes of its research through academic publications, policy- oriented analyses, media outputs, and public events. From among the academic publications, the special symposium on the Use of Force and the So-Called Islamic State, published

* JUDr. PhDr. Veronika Bílková, Ph.D., E.MA , works as an associate professor in international law at the Faculty of Law of Charles University and the Head of the IIR Centre for International Law in Prague.

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