The conference “The Roots of Crimes against Humanity: Bridging the Normative Gap” places Warsaw at the center of global human rights diplomacy - Instytut Pileckiego

As global efforts to codify a groundbreaking legal act intensify, Warsaw is becoming a center of legal discourse. The international conference “The Roots of Crimes against Humanity: Bridging the Normative Gap" will be held on April 20–21, 2026. This event represents a significant contribution to the discussion on the first-ever United Nations Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity.

The conference is held under the honorary patronage of Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Radosław Sikorski.

Date: April 20–21, 2026

Venue: Pilecki Institute, 82 Sienna Street, Warsaw

Language: The proceedings will be conducted in English.

The event will be broadcast live on the Pilecki Institute’s YouTube channel.

April 20: https://youtube.com/live/4_f2bCfkQKs?feature=share

April 21: https://youtube.com/live/bbuAjdhpVf4?feature=share

Participation in the conference (in-person) – by invitation only.

Register here: https://forms.gle/G92jCjRqtrDBy3M87 

Strategic Forum: Filling the Normative Gap

Although treaties regulating genocide and war crimes have been a cornerstone of the international legal order for decades, the lack of a dedicated convention on crimes against humanity remains a significant legal gap. The Warsaw conference is a direct response to this challenge.

The timing of the conference lends it significant diplomatic weight. Under the current UN roadmap, 2026 is the year reserved for submitting official observations from Member States. Since this forum takes place just days before the April 30, 2026 deadline, it promises to be a potentially decisive venue for shaping international standards.

Expert Perspectives

The conference will be opened by Artur Harazim, Undersecretary of State at the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. His presence underscores the Polish government’s determination to “complete” the human rights protection system. Keynote speeches will be delivered by three distinguished figures:

• Prof. Guénaël Mettraux (Judge of The Kosovo Specialist Chambers) – a renowned criminal law expert who will outline the origins of the concept of crimes against humanity, creating a legal and historical framework for the debate.
• Ambassador Franz Perrez (Director General of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs) – as the keynote speaker of the final session, he will bring unparalleled diplomatic authority to the discussion. His expertise in international law will guide the panel “Towards the New Convention,” combining academic theory with the realities of the negotiations in New York.
• Paweł Wierdak (Legal Advisor to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland and the Ministry’s Director of the Legal and Treaty Department) – in cooperation with Ambassador Perrez, he will present the Polish perspective on the pragmatic challenges related to the implementation of the new Convention in the modern security architecture.

Polish School of Law: From Lemkin to the Present Day

Poland’s role as a host stems from its tragic experience of the 20th century and the confrontation with two totalitarian systems. Continuing the legacy of Raphael Lemkin, the Pilecki Institute builds its identity around his intellectual achievements.

– Our goal is to identify specific elements of the crime and precedents that diplomats can use as practical tools during treaty negotiations – emphasizes Prof. Patrycja Grzebyk, a scholar from the Pilecki Institute’s Center for Totalitarian Studies and a Professor at the University of Warsaw.

The Mission of the Pilecki Institute and the Conference

The international conference “The Roots of Crimes against Humanity: Bridging the Normative Gap”, organized by the Pilecki Institute and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, aligns with the strategy and mission of the Pilecki Institute. The Institute’s patron, Witold Pilecki, was one of the first people to risk their lives to document crimes against humanity, which are the subject of our conference. Poland has a long and rich tradition of developing legal frameworks to prosecute and punish perpetrators of international crimes, and actively supports global efforts to effectively enforce the international law.

Guided by the legacy of its patron, the Pilecki Institute is also involved in this process, conducting research and disseminating knowledge about the crimes of totalitarian systems and the history of creating legal frameworks for their prevention, prosecution and punishment. The Institute has considerable experience in this area – we have implemented projects concerning, among others, Raphael Lemkin and the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (adopted by the UN General Assembly on 9 December 1948), the history of the Nuremberg Trials, proceedings against Nazi criminals before the Supreme National Tribunal, the history and role of the Polish diplomacy and the Polish Government-in-Exile, as well as our flagship archival project, “Chronicles of Terror”. The Pilecki Institute has also established the Lemkin Center and runs the Lemkin Laboratory project in collaboration with the Mieroszewski Center. The Institute also implements an important research grant under the National Program for the Development of Humanities entitled “(Un)tried Crimes: The Approach of the Law Enforcement Agencies and the Judiciary of the Federal Republic of Germany to German Crimes in Poland (1939–1945)” (headed by Prof. Tomasz Chinciński and Dr. Dominika Uczkiewicz).

The idea for the conference originated with the Institute’s Department of Totalitarianism, Politics and International Law, which brings together eminent scholars whose work has received international acclaim and recognition, including nominations for the awards of the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Prof. Patrycja Grzebyk and Dr. Kinga Czechowska, among others). The department focuses on the history of diplomacy and the development of international law and institutions – topics closely related to the concept of totalitarianism and the crimes committed under totalitarian regimes. Researchers are concerned with, among others, the following issues: the formation of the definition of international crimes and the principles of liability under the influence of totalitarian regimes, reparations for the crimes of totalitarian systems, and the actions undertaken by Polish diplomats and lawyers in these fields.

The conference is important for a number of reasons. An international convention on the prevention and punishment of crimes against humanity is currently being prepared, with Poland playing an active role under the auspices of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The Institute aims to support Polish diplomatic efforts by initiating an academic discussion on the history of crimes against humanity, among others by presenting historical precedents for the prosecution and punishment of such crimes. It is also of no less importance to examine the development of totalitarian systems under which these crimes were committed. The Institute has initiated numerous projects concerning the crime of genocide, this in close connection to the figure of Raphael Lemkin, but it should be noted that a convention on this category of crimes was adopted relatively quickly (although its final form and scope remain a separate issue). Meanwhile, the category of crimes against humanity – to the development of which Poles have also made a significant contribution, and which has been repeatedly applied by international criminal tribunals and remains one of the most frequently used categories of international crimes by prosecutors – does not have a separate convention. For this reason, the Pilecki Institute supports both researchers and diplomats by providing a forum for expert discussion and preparing publications that serve as a valuable reference for further work in this field.

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