The Geneva Forum 2026

The Geneva Forum convenes on 24 April at the Palais des Nations in Geneva — the United Nations International Day of Multilateralism and Diplomacy for Peace. Under the theme Justice and the Discriminatory Death Penalty, two working sessions place an institutional question and a compliance question side by side: how international courts withstand pressure on their independence, and how international humanitarian, human rights, and criminal law fare in ongoing armed conflicts. 

The morning session examines the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court — sanctions against court personnel, non-cooperation with arrest warrants, non-compliance with judicial orders. The afternoon session turns to compliance failures across multiple bodies of international law, with a particular focus on the discriminatory application of the death penalty as an institutional mirror of broader systemic erosion. Each session combines prepared interventions by leading scholars, diplomats, and practitioners with a multi-stakeholder roundtable open to all participants.

The Forum closes with the announcement of the Geneva Statement of 24 April 2026 — a joint legal-political call to safeguard multilateral justice and to strengthen mechanisms for universal compliance with the UN Charter, IHL, IHRL, and ICL.

The full programme, speaker biographies, and venue details are available in the official flyer below.