The jury praised an outstanding and original study of a concept that has become central to international law over the years. It lauded the work for its exceptional quality, in-depth research, and remarkable conceptual clarity.

The awarded monograph of Dr Le Moli is a theorical, historical and juridical investigation of how, in a period of two centuries, human dignity as a value moved from the fringes to the centre of the international legal system. The book features a detailed historical, theoretical and legal investigation of human dignity as a normative value, the intellectual sources that shaped its legal recognition, and the main legal instruments used to give it expression in international law. 

Ginevra Le Moli addresses the broad historical and philosophical developments relating to the legal expression of dignity and the doctrinal geography of human dignity in international law, with a focus on international humanitarian law, international human rights law and international criminal law.

“The value of such a discussion is evident since today the intrinsic concept of human dignity is tightly crafted in the foundations and the new architectural construction of international law as it appears through humanitarian law, human rights law and international criminal law”, commented a jury member in her appreciation of the book.” The jury concluded that it filled a major gap in the current literature and opened also new avenues for future research.

Dr Ginevra Le Moli is a part time Professor of International Law at the European University Institute (EUI), Florence School of Regulation, and a Fellow at the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Environment, Energy & Natural Resource Governance (C-EENRG). She started her academic career in 2019 as Assistant Professor of Public International Law at Leiden University, Grotius Centre for International Legal Studies. Since 2024, she serves as co Editor-in-Chief of the Review of European, Comparative & International Environmental Law (RECIEL). Her Ph.D. dissertation, written at the Graduate Institute and the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, was published by Cambridge University Press under the title “Human Dignity in International Law” in May 2022.

I am honoured and delighted to receive the Paul Guggenheim Prize in International Law for my work on human dignity. My monograph is the outcome of a doctoral dissertation, which I wrote at the Graduate Institute in Geneva and the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law in Cambridge. My goal was to conduct a historical, conceptual and legal investigation of human dignity as a normative value in international law. By assessing the place and the implications of human dignity, the study shows the structural impact that this fundamental value has had on shaping the architecture of international law.

Dr Ginevra Le Moli 

The jury of the Paul Guggenheim Prize is chaired by Charles-Edouard Held. The other members are: Frédérique Coulée, Mamadou Hébié, Haritini Dipla, Gerhard Hafner, Mojtaba Kazazi, and Linos-Alexandre Sicilianos. 

The Paul Guggenheim Prize, endowed with CHF 15,000, was established in 1981 with the aim of promoting young scholars in the field of international law. Its purpose is to reward a young scholar who has written a first monograph of outstanding quality and who is likely to make a substantial contribution to the theory of international law. The Prize is awarded every two years. The Paul Guggenheim Prize 2025 will be launched in May 2025. Details will be announced on the website of the Graduate Institute.