VAIOS KOUTROULIS

Having studied law at the University of Athens, Vaios Koutroulis obtained his PhD in 2011 from the Université libre de Bruxelles (ULB) for a thesis on the relationship between jus contra bellum and jus in bello. Currently a professor of public international law at the ULB Faculty of Law, where he teaches, among others, public international law, law of armed conflict and international criminal law. He also teaches at the Royal Military School of Belgium and has given numerous lectures on international humanitarian law (IHL) and international criminal law, including courses for members of the armed forces, humanitarians and other professionals. His publications focus mainly on jus in bello and jus contra bellum and include a monograph on belligerent occupation published by Pedone editions (Paris) in 2010.
Vaios Koutroulis is a member of the International Humanitarian Fact-Finding Commission, the only treaty-based standing body addressing compliance with the 1949 Geneva Conventions and their first additional protocol. As a practitioner, he was a member of the legal team of Belgium in the case concerning Questions relating to the Obligation to Prosecute or Extradite (Belgium v. Senegal) in 2012 and the Counsel of Belgium in the recent (2024) advisory proceedings on the occupied Palestinian territory, both before the International Court of Justice. He has also consulted the Belgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs on international criminal law questions relating to the Ljubljana – The Hague Convention on international cooperation in the investigation and prosecution of core international crimes. He participated in the negotiations of the conventions, as the chair of one of the three main working groups of the diplomatic conference.