prof. dr. mr. Geert-Jan Knoops

About Geert-Jan Knoops

Geert-Jan Alexander Knoops (b.1960) is visiting Professor of International Criminal Law at Shandong University (Jinan, China, Oct. 2013); from 2003 to 2013 he was professor of International Criminal Law at Utrecht University (2003-2006, part-time professor; 2006-2013, zero-time appointment). He holds two PhD degrees one in criminal law and one in international criminal law (University Leiden and University Ireland) as well as a LLM degree in public international law and international criminal law (University Leiden). Professor Knoops practises international criminal law at the law firm Knoops advocaten in Amsterdam. He appears as defence counsel before several international courts such as the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR), the International Criminal Tribunal of the former Yugoslavia (ICTY) and the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL). Knoops is also admitted as defence counsel to the bar of the International Criminal Court (ICC) at the Hague and he is admitted to the list of defence counsel appearing before the Cambodia Tribunal (ECCC). In October 2005 he was appointed as expert consultant in Hamdan v. Rumsfeld (Military Commissions/Guantanamo Bay) which case led to the landmark U.S. Supreme Court judgement in June 2006. He is also an Advisory consultant at Sunsglow New York (as of 2006), a U.S. based international organisation and think tank on the development of the rule of law in international affairs, and a member of the Sierra Leone Institute of International Law. In 2012 professor Knoops is appointed member of the Board of Supervisors of the National Registry of Expert Witnesses.Professor Knoops has appeared as lead counsel in the ICTR cases of Prosecutor v. Musabyimana and Prosecutor v. Bagaragaza, in the SCSL case of Prosecutor v. Kanu and in the ICTY case of Prosecutor v. Jovica Stanisic (2004-2009: lead counsel; 2009-present: legal consultant for the defence). He was appointed by the ICTY as duty counsel in the case of Prosecutor v. A. Gotovina and he was appointed as legal consultant for the defence in the ICTY appeals proceedings of Prosecutor v. Lukic.Professor Knoops holds the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (reserve) in the Royal Dutch Marines Corps and is appointed as defence counsel before the (extraordinary) military court. In his capacity as international criminal law expert, professor Knoops has appeared as an expert witness before the Dutch Parliamentary Commission on the ISAF mission (Uruzgan, Afghanistan) in January 2006 as well as December 2007, and before the Parliamentary Commission on Combating Piracy in 2009 and 2011.On 29 April 2009 professor Knoops was knighted as an Officer in the Order of Orange-Nassau by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands for his legal-political services to the country and elected as best lawyer of the Netherlands in 2000-2002 and 2010. He also received the Amsterdam Bar Association Award in 2006.Professor Knoops academic books include, inter alia, Defenses in Contemporary International Criminal Law, 2nd ed. (2008), Surrendering to International Criminal Courts: Contemporary Practice and Procedure (2002), An Introduction to the Law of International Criminal Tribunals: A Comparative Study (2003; 2nd ed. in press), Theory and Practice of International and Internationalized Criminal Proceedings (2005), Redressing Miscarriages of Justice: Practice and Procedures in (inter)national Criminal Cases (2006; 2nd ed. 2013).His popular science books include: Blufpoker: de duistere wereld van het international recht (Blufpoker: the dark side of international law) (2011) and Amerika versus Bin Laden (United States v. Bin Laden) (2011).His legal thrillers include: Het Tweede Schot, het ware verhaal van Eric O. (second shot, the true story of Eric O.) (2008), Advocaat van de Vijand (Lawyer of the Enemy) (2009), Advocaat van de President (Lawyer of the President) (2010), Het Petronius Mysterie (the Mystery of Petronius) (2012).