Gerhard Hafner
- former Head of the Institute of European, International and Comparative Law
- Professor of International Law and International Relations at the University of Vienna
- Member of the l´Institut de Droit International
- Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration
Gerhard Hafner graduated from the Vienna Law Faculty (Dr. iur. 1966) and subsequently studied at the Universities of Paris, The Hague, and Moscow. University assistant since 1970, Univ.-Doz. 1983 (International Law and International Economic Law); Professor at the Vienna Law Faculty since 1990; Visiting Professor in Stanford (1996), Bratislava since 1992, Visiting Professor at the `Institut des Hautes Etudes Internationales´ of the University Paris 2 (1997), Lecturer at the Austrian Diplomatic Academy Vienna, M.A.I.S.; University of Krems; Member of the International Law Commission (1997-2001) - First Vice-president of the ILC during the 2001 session; former Deputy Chairman of the German Society of International Law; Conciliator at the OSCE Court; Member of its Bureau 2001 – 2007, former Chairman of the Austrian Branch of the International Law Association; Chairman of the ILA Committee on State Succession; Legal Consultant to the Austrian Ministry for Foreign Affairs; former Director of the Department of European, International and Comparative Law (University of Vienna); Professor in the LLM Program “International Legal Studies” since 2008; arbitrator in the Abyei Case, arbitrator in the MOX case (Ireland v United Kingdom); advocate on behalf of Liechtenstein in the Certain Properties case (Liechtenstein v Germany, ICJ), counsel on behalf of Argentina in the case ARA Libertad (2012; ITLOS), arbitrator in the case Denmark on behalf of Faroe Islands v EU.
Research focus
- Codification of Public International Law
- European law
- International criminal law
- Neutrality
- Peaceful dispute settlement
- State succession
Major Recent Publications
Together with A. Kumin, F. Weiss, Recht der europäischen Union (2015), 378 pp.
State Practice Regarding State Immunities - La pratique des Etats concernant les Immunités des Etats, Gerhard Hafner, Marcelo G. Kohen and Susan Breau (eds.), Nijhoff Publishers (2006) 1043 pp.
Environmental Issues in the Work of the ILC (together with Holly. L. Pearson, Yearbook of International and Environmental Law, 11 (2000 published in 2001), pp. 3-51.
Pros and Cons Ensuing from Fragmentation of International Law, 4 Michigan Journal of International Law, Vol. 25 (2004), pp. 849-868.
Accountability of International Organizations. A Critical View, in: R. St. John Macdonald and D. M. Johnston (eds.), Towards World Constitutionalism, Issues in the Legal Ordering of the World Community, Leiden (2005) pp. 585-630.
Remarques sur l’affaire Behrami et Saramati (Cour européenne des droits de l’homme): le statut juridique de la KFOR et de ses actes, 60 Arès 109-120 (2008)
Historical Background to the Convention, in: Roger O’Keefe, Christian Tams (ed.s), The United Nations Convention on Jurisdictional Immunities of States and Their Property (2013). 1 – 12.
The Emancipation of the Individual from the State under International Law, in: Hague Academy of International Law, Receuil des cours, vol. 358, 267 - 435