English version coming soon
Located in the premises of the former Paris Faculty of Law, Place du Panthéon, the Centre de Recherche sur les Droits de l'Homme et le Droit Humanitaire (C.R.D.H./Paris Human Rights Center) was established in 1995 by Professors Mario Bettati and Gérard Cohen-Jonathan. From 2003 and for about twelve years, it was headed by Prof. Emmanuel Decaux, who notably developed its training programmes by transforming the initial DESS to create the Master 2 in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, with its professional and research tracks, and who launched a series of annual international conferences. Since 2014, the Centre has been directed by Prof. Olivier de Frouville.
For over 25 years, the CRDH has been one of the leading research centres in France and Europe, pursuing a research project characterised by an integrated and cross-disciplinary vision of all the norms and institutions of public international law relating to the protection of human rights: international and European human rights law, international criminal law, international humanitarian law, and refugee law.
Since its inception, the CRDH has developed a twofold mission:
- To provide cutting-edge teaching across all fields of international human rights law and humanitarian law, within the framework of the DESS accredited in 1995, then the Master 2 in Human Rights and Humanitarian Law, and now the Master 1 & 2 in Human Rights and International Justice. Over 600 students have been trained in two decades, providing a pool of practitioners and academic researchers throughout the world, brought together within the CRDH Association;
- To constitute a centre of excellence in the areas of expertise, research, and legal development, at the intersection of all its components, with a strong international outlook, in partnership with all institutional stakeholders involved in "external legal policy" and human rights diplomacy.
The CRDH oversees individual and collective research activities that frequently result in publications. These activities are led by four permanent academic staff members (Professors Olivier de Frouville and Sébastien Touzé, and Lecturers Sarah Jamal and Laurent Trigeaud), and one emeritus professor, Emmanuel Decaux. Around forty doctoral students of various nationalities are also preparing their dissertations at the Centre, and some twelve associate researchers regularly participate in the Centre's projects.
The CRDH regularly organises international conferences, study days, and lectures. Since 2000, it has published an electronic journal on Fundamental Rights. Together with its team of young researchers, the Centre participates in international networks and conducts ambitious scientific projects.
