The Faculty of Law of the University of Basel founded in 1460 hereby confers all the dignity, rights and privileges of an honorary doctorate in law upon Dr. Philip Grant, LL.M. from Geneva, Switzerland

who for many years has worked tirelessly and with great commitment to combat impunity for the commission of international crimes;

who did pioneering work in the field of enforcement of international criminal law by foundingTRIAL International, a non-governmental organization that aims to hold accountable those responsible
for genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes, sexual violence, torture and enforced disappearance;

who has pursued numerous legal avenues to achieve justice and redress for victims of international crimes.

Philip Grant was born in London in 1971.

He has been active since his teens in various organisations working on human rights issues, racism, refugees and the right to conscientious objection.

Philip Grant has mostly studied in Geneva, obtaining his law degree in 1994 and a diploma of Superior Studies in 1996, which won the Arditi Prize. In 2000, he obtained a PhD in Constitutional law from the University of Geneva. His doctorate thesis entitled « La protection de la vie familiale et de la vie privée en droit des étrangers » was awarded the Walther Hug Prize in 2001. Philip Grant also obtained an LLM in International Humanitarian Law and Human Rights from the Centre Universitaire en Droit International Humanitaire in 2005. His thesis, «Vers la fin des Tribunaux pénaux internationaux: conséquences juridiques des contraintes temporelles», won the Accessit to the 2005 Henry Dunant Prize. In 2017, he was named University of Geneva Alumnus of the Year.

In 1998, after the arrest of the former President of Chile Augusto Pinochet, Philip Grant nurtured the idea of launching an organisation of lawyers whose goal would be to use the emerging norms of international criminal law to support victims of atrocities in their quest for justice. From that vision TRIAL International was launched in 2002. Philip Grant was its first President, before joining the organisation as its Executive Director in 2007. Prior to that, Philip Grant had worked as an attorney in a law firm in Geneva, of which he became a partner. But TRIAL International soon consumed all of his time and energy. In a few years, he built the organisation into one of the most effective and respected legal organisations fight against impunity for crimes under international law, such as genocide, crimes against humanity, war crimes and torture. Under Philip Grant’s tenure, the NGO has expanded the scope of it works through the setting up of local offices in Bosnia-Herzegovina, Nepal and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

In the course of 20 years, TRIAL International has been party to hundreds of legal proceedings, at national and international levels, arguing criminal, civil, administrative, constitutional and human rights cases, defending thousands of victims of the most atrocious crimes, with an important emphasis on conflict-related sexual violence, enforced disappearances and, increasingly, of corporate misbehavior. Philip Grant has himself argued numerous cases before human rights bodies, including the UN Human Rights Committee and Committee Against Torture, and has pleaded a case against Switzerland before the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights in 2015. The NGO has investigated and documented multiple dossiers stemming from Syria, Algeria, Guatemala, the DRC, Bosnia and many other countries, and has been party to criminal trials that have resulted in the sentencing of dozens of high-level perpetrators, including heads of national police, rebel groups commanders, high-ranking military officers. In recent years, TRIAL International has also been active investigating and bringing charges against corporate actors in Switzerland suspected of being complicit in crimes under international law. The organisation has also trained during all these years hundreds of legal professionals in Bosnia, Burundi, DRC, Gambia, Kenya, Nepal, and elsewhere.

Philip Grant has also written numerous legal articles and has lectured at the University of Geneva and frequently appears in the press, on radio and television to discuss accountability issues.