Sir Robert Yewdall Jennings (19 October 1913 – 4 August 2004) was

Whewell Professor of International Law The Whewell Professorship of International Law is a professorship in the University of Cambridge. The Professorship was established in 1868 by the will of the 19th-century scientist and moral philosopher, William Whewell, with a view to devising ...

Cambridge University , mottoeng = Literal: From here, light and sacred draughts. Non literal: From this place, we gain enlightenment and precious knowledge. , established = , other_name = The Chancellor, Masters and Schola ...

from 1955 to 1982 and a

Judge A judge is a person who presides over court proceedings, either alone or as a part of a panel of judges. A judge hears all the witnesses and any other evidence presented by the barristers or solicitors of the case, assesses the credibility an ...

of the

International Court of Justice The International Court of Justice (ICJ; french: Cour internationale de justice, links=no; ), sometimes known as the World Court, is one of the six principal organs of the United Nations (UN). It settles disputes between states in accordanc ...

from 1982. He also served as the President of the ICJ between 1991 and 1994 and resigned from the Court on 10 July 1995.

Birth and education

Jennings was born in

Yorkshire Yorkshire ( ; abbreviated Yorks), formally known as the County of York, is a Historic counties of England, historic county in northern England and by far the largest in the United Kingdom. Because of its large area in comparison with other Eng ...

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

where his father worked at a small manufacturing firm and his mother was a mill weaver. Educated at the local village school, and later at Belle Vue Grammar School in

Bradford Bradford is a city and the administrative centre of the City of Bradford district in West Yorkshire, England. The city is in the Pennines' eastern foothills on the banks of the Bradford Beck. Bradford had a population of 349,561 at the 2011 ...

, he went on to study history at

Downing College, Cambridge Downing College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge and currently has around 650 students. Founded in 1800, it was the only college to be added to Cambridge University between 1596 and 1869, and is often described as the olde ...

. After he gained an upper first class degree, the award of a Squire Law scholarship and some assistance from his local authority provided the financial support that enabled him to proceed to study Law. Again, Jennings excelled, gaining first class honours in both parts of the Cambridge Law

Tripos At the University of Cambridge, a Tripos (, plural 'Triposes') is any of the examinations that qualify an undergraduate for a bachelor's degree or the courses taken by a student to prepare for these. For example, an undergraduate studying mathe ...

and in the postgraduate LLB degree, and being awarded the Whewell and Cassell scholarships. He later got his

LL.B Bachelor of Laws ( la, Legum Baccalaureus; LL.B.) is an undergraduate law degree in the United Kingdom and most common law jurisdictions. Bachelor of Laws is also the name of the law degree awarded by universities in the People's Republic of Chi ...

from the same institution and then won the

Joseph Hodges Choate Joseph Hodges Choate (January 24, 1832 – May 14, 1917) was an American lawyer and diplomat. Choate was associated with many of the most famous litigations in American legal history, including the Kansas prohibition cases, the Chinese exclusi ...

Memorial Fellowship to

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of higher le ...

Career

After Harvard, Jennings worked at an assistant lectureship at the

London School of Economics , mottoeng = To understand the causes of things , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £240.8 million (2021) , budget = £391.1 millio ...

. From 1939 on, he was a Fellow of

Jesus College, Cambridge Jesus College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge. The college's full name is The College of the Blessed Virgin Mary, Saint John the Evangelist and the glorious Virgin Saint Radegund, near Cambridge. Its common name comes fr ...

, and was awarded the Hudson Medal of the

American Society of International Law The American Society of International Law (ASIL), founded in 1906, was chartered by the United States Congress in 1950 to foster the study of international law, and to promote the establishment and maintenance of international relations on the ba ...

. The

University of Leicester , mottoeng = So that they may have life , established = , type = public research university , endowment = £20.0 million , budget = £326 million , chancellor = David Willetts , vice_chancellor = Nishan Canagarajah , head_labe ...

named a chair after him; Malcolm Shaw held the Chair until 2011. Katja Ziegler is the current Sir Robert Jennings Professor of International Law. In 1955 he succeeded Sir

Hersch Lauterpacht Sir Hersch Lauterpacht (16 August 1897 – 8 May 1960) was a British international lawyer, human rights activist, and judge at the International Court of Justice. Biography Hersh Lauterpacht was born on 16 August 1897 to a Jewish family in t ...

as Whewell Professor of International Law, the post which he held until 1982. He served in the Intelligence Corps during the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. He was

knighted A knight is a person granted an honorary title of knighthood by a head of state (including the Pope) or representative for service to the monarch, the Christian denomination, church or the country, especially in a military capacity. Knighthood ...

in 1982. He was a president of the

Institut de droit international The Institute of International Law ( French: Institut de Droit International) is an organization devoted to the study and development of international law, whose membership comprises the world's leading public international lawyers. The organizat ...

, received

honorary doctorate An honorary degree is an academic degree for which a university (or other degree-awarding institution) has waived all of the usual requirements. It is also known by the Latin phrases ''honoris causa'' ("for the sake of the honour") or ''ad hon ...

s from the universities of Hull, Leicester and the Saarland, as well as Oxford and Cambridge. He was an editor of the British Yearbook of International Law; co-authored (with Sir Arthur Watts) 9th edition of '' Oppenheim's International Law''. His other important publications include ''The Acquisition of Territory in International Law.''

Personal life

He married Christine Bennett (died 2022); they had one son and two daughters.

References

External links

* * * International law scholars 1913 births 2004 deaths Harvard University alumni Members of the Institut de Droit International Presidents of the International Court of Justice 20th-century English judges Knights Bachelor Lawyers awarded knighthoods Fellows of Jesus College, Cambridge Alumni of Downing College, Cambridge Whewell Professors of International Law People educated at Belle Vue Boys' Grammar School, Bradford British judges of United Nations courts and tribunals {{UK-law-bio-stub

Birth and education

Career

Personal life

See also

References

External links