Professor, Minister, Judge - Krzysztof Skubiszewski 1926-2010

James Crawford, Grzegorz Dziemidowicz, Rosalyn Higgins, Zdzisław Kędzia, Bartłomiej Krzan, Marek Prawda, Ryszard Stemplowski Professor, Minister, Judge Krzysztof Skubiszewski 19262010 Preface by Witold Sobków Contains 28 photos courtesy of the Krzysztof Skubiszewski Foundationn and the Skubiszewski Family Photo Archives ISBN 978-83-7383-757-7 From the book: The extremely stubborn Skubiszewski insisted in February 1990 that Poland should participate in the Paris conference on German unity, which dealt with external borders and issues that could have impact on Poland. Finally, in November 1990, Skubiszewski and Genscher signed a bilateral treaty confirming the existing border between Germany and Poland. (M. Prawda) Judge ad hoc Skubiszewskis argument that the situation was not immutable proved prescient. In 2000, Portugal and Indonesia reached agreement on an act of popular consultation under UN auspices, in which the people of East Timor rejected incorporation into Indonesia and opted for independence Between 1975 and 2002, it is estimated that 200,000 East Timorese died, almost a third of the pre-conflict population. On 27 September 2002, the General Assembly admitted East Timor as a member state under the title Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste. (J. Crawford) In certain ways it made sense that Skubiszewskis working life should end with the Presidency of the Iran-US Claims Tribunal He was not, in fact, a natural chairman and especially not in an institution where the President - every President - has over the years been subject to challenges in his work. He bore these realities stoically I have learned that he was always respected at the Tribunal and have been told that the respect of his colleagues turned to love. So it is totally fitting that today we should pay tribute to the life of this exceptional man. (R. Higgins)