The former chief prosecutor at the UN Yugoslavia and Rwanda Tribunals, Richard J. Goldstone, will spend three months in The Hague and Wassenaar from early April 2009 as the first ‘The Hague Peace Philosopher'.

Mayor of The Hague Jozias van Aartsen made the announcement at the opening of World Peace Day on 21 September at the Peace Palace in The Hague. At the invitation of the Municipality of The Hague, NIAS and others, Mr Goldstone will be working on a new convention on crimes against humanity. He will give readings and master classes, lead debates and produce a number of publications for Radio Netherlands Worldwide's International Justice website on his major theme: the growing cohesion between international humanitarian law and international human rights.

‘The Hague Peace Philosopher'
‘The Hague Peace Philosopher' is an initiative resulting from the new Spinoza Fellowship, a partnership between the Municipality of The Hague, the Netherlands Institute for Advance Study in the Humanities and Social Sciences (NIAS), Radio Netherlands Worldwide and the University of Leiden's Campus The Hague.

In the future, as part of the Spinoza Fellowship, a Hague Peace Philosopher will be invited annually to spend three months at Campus The Hague and in Wassenaar clarifying an issue relating to international peace and law and making this accessible to a wider audience. The holder of the title will spend this period inspiring interest in specific themes among the Dutch and the international community by means of readings, debates, interviews and publications.

The Hague Peace Philosophers may be internationally renowned scientists, jurors, journalists, writers or artists. The new initiative has the broad support of a variety of Dutch organisations. The NIAS, Radio Netherlands Worldwide, the University of Leiden's Campus The Hague and the Municipality of The Hague have joined together in a special commission which will supervise the project. Other members of the commission represent Nieuwspoort, the Foreign Press Association (BPV), the Posthoorn, The Hague Academic Coalition and the Netherlands Dance Theatre.

Biography
Richard J. Goldstone was born on 26 October 1938. He served as a justice in South Africa's highest courts. In 1980, he began his first judgeship at the Transvaal Supreme Court, where he remained until his 1989 appointment to the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court. From 1994 to 2003, he served as a justice of the Constitutional Court of South Africa. He is presently serving as a member of the Independent Inquiry Committee into the UN Oil-for-Food Program.

Goldstone's pursuit of justice continued outside the courtroom. A committed human rights activist, he served as the chairperson of the Commission of Inquiry regarding Public Violence and Intimidation (the Goldstone Commission) from 1991 to 1994 in South Africa. From 1994 to 1996, he served as the chief prosecutor of the United Nations International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda. In 1999, he assumed the chairmanship of the International Independent Inquiry on Kosovo and he was appointed as the co-chairman of the International Task Force on Terrorism established by the International Bar Association. From 1999 to 2003, he served as a member of the International Group of Advisers of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

Goldstone is the author of numerous articles on international humanitarian law. In recognition of his commitment to human rights, Justice Goldstone is the recipient of a plethora of local and international awards, including the International Human Rights Award of the American Bar Association (1994). In October 2005 he was awarded the Thomas J. Dodd Prize in International Justice and Human Rights jointly with the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Louise Arbour. He holds Honorary Doctorate of Law degrees from 17 internationally renowned universities and is a fellow of the Weatherhead Centre for International Affairs of Harvard University. He is a foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences.

Judge Goldstone is married (wife Noleen) and has two married daughters - Glenda and Nicole. He has four grandsons, Jason, Sean, Ben and Jordan.