The Bolch Judicial Institute of Duke Law School has named Harold Hongju Koh of Yale Law School the 2023 recipient of the Raphael Lemkin Rule of Law Guardian Medal. This award is given to honor individuals who seek to advance and protect the rule of law.
“Harold Koh is one of the great figures in human rights and international law,” said David F. Levi, ALI President and director emeritus of the Bolch Judicial Institute at Duke Law. “He has made huge contributions as a scholar, a teacher, the leader of a great law school, in distinguished public service, and as an advocate. Whether in Haiti or Ukraine or elsewhere, when he sees injustice, he must act to end it using his formidable skills and passion, using the law. It is hard to imagine how he has accomplished so much in one lifetime. The Lemkin Medal is a fitting tribute to his devotion to the rule of law and the tremendous value and impact of his life’s work.”
Koh is Sterling Professor of International Law at Yale Law School. He returned to Yale Law School in January 2013 after serving for nearly four years as the 22nd Legal Adviser of the U.S. Department of State. He was recently appointed project chair for the remaining subjects in the Restatement of the Law Fourth, The Foreign Relations Law of the United States project.
Koh will be honored during a program at Duke Law School on October 9. More information is available here.