Lecture | 5th Owada Chair Symposium

International Criminal Justice: Utopia or Reality?

Kenote speaker: Dr. Fatou Bensouda

Date: Tuesday 14 October 2025 - Wednesday 15 October 2025
Location: Academy Building
Rapenburg 73
2311 GJ Leiden

The Owada Chair in International Law and Geopolitics is a joint project of Leiden University and the University of Tokyo. The Chair examines the interconnections between law and politics in international relations, particularly in the light of contemporary shifts toward greater multipolarity and the rise of non-western powers.

This fifth edition of the Owada Chair Symposium highlights the law and politics of international criminal justice. In today's world, with major geopolitical shifts and heightened international violence, how far can international law and international courts effectively counter war crimes and crimes against humanity? Is international criminal justice doomed to be utopian; or what needs to happen to make it a reality? Can international courts and their supporters resist the efforts of powerful states to delegitimate them and interfere with their functioning?

Our keynote speaker, Dr. Fatou Bensouda, explores these crucial questions based on rich experience as Lead Prosecutor at the International Criminal Court in The Hague between 2012 and 2021.

Programme

10:00 ‑ 12:00

Opening and keynote lecture

Academy Building, Great Auditorium

Leiden University welcome by Rector Magnificus Hester Bijl
University of Tokyo welcome by Professor Terada Torahiko, Dean of the Graduate School and College of Arts and Sciences
Introductory remarks, Professor Hisashi Owada
Keynote lecture by Dr. Fatou Bensouda: International Criminal Justice: Reflections from a Former ICC Prosecutor
University of Tokyo respondent: Professor Ai Kihara-Hunt
Leiden University respondent: Professor Larissa van den Herik

14:00 ‑ 16:00

Student debate on the keynote lecture

Academy Building, room 2

Welcome
Professor Takumi Moriyama, Executive Vice President University of Tokyo

Moderator
Professor Hisashi Owada

6 Leiden students
6 Tokyo students
Respondent: Dr. Fatou Bensouda

09:00 ‑ 10:00

Breakfast with keynote speaker Dr. Fatou Bensouda

Wijnhaven Building

10:00 ‑ 12:00

Student workshop Part I

Wijnhaven Building

13:00 ‑ 15:00

Student workshop Part II

Wijnhaven Building

Attendance

We kindly ask you to register if you wish to attend (parts of) the programme on 14 October.

Registration form

Live stream

Are you unable to attend the keynote lecture? On 14 October from 9:55 there will be a live stream on this page. You don't need to register for this.

About the Owada Chair

The Universities of Leiden and Tokyo jointly established a chair named after Professor Hisashi Owada in 2021. The chair focuses on the interaction between international law and international relations from an interdisciplinary perspective.

Prof. Owada himself holds the chair, but the scientific contribution comes more from an annually appointed keynote speaker. The accompanying symposium takes place alternately in Leiden and Tokyo. In addition to the keynote speaker, students/PhDs from the two universities also participate. The students exchange ideas and give presentations to each other.

The Owada Chair is generously supported by the Ailion Foundation, Kikkoman Foods Europe BV, the Leiden University Fund, and the Japan-Netherlands Commission for Academic and Cultural Exchange

Organising comittee

Jan Aart Scholte, Professor of Global Transformations and Governance Challenges, Leiden University
Eric De Brabandere, Professor of International Dispute Settlement Law, Leiden University
Ai Kihara-Hunt, Director of Research Center for Sustainable Peace, University of Tokyo
Tomofumi Kitamura, Associate Professor of International Law, University of Tokyo
Daniel Thomas, Professor of International Relations, Leiden University