Department of International Law

V.S. Ivanenko, Department Chair,
 Candidate of Legal Sciences, Docent

The history of the department begins in 1836 when, based on the new General Charter of Russian Universities of 1835, when the teaching of international law was introduced under the name that was used then – ‘Law of All Peoples’ (obshchenarodnoe pravo). In compliance with this Charter, the Department of Law of All Peoples and Diplomacy was opened at the Faculty of Law. Ignatiy I. Ivanovskiy, Doctor of Law and a young (29 years old) Professor from the line of Moscow University was invited from studies abroad to lead the new department.

I.I. Ivanovskiy joined the department in 1836 and led it until 1870. During this period (1863), the Department of Law of All Peoples and Diplomacy was renamed to the Department of International Law in accordance with the new Charter of Imperial Universities of 1863. In January 1871, the department was joing by a young (25 years old) Master of Laws by the name of Fyodor F. Martens – the future world-renowned scholar and diplomat. F.F. Martens led the department for 33 years (just as his teacher I.I. Ivanovskiy did) until 1903. His students led the department until the October Revolution: Professor Baron Mikhail A. Taube and Professor Aleksandr A. Pilenko.

After the revolution, the department was led by such well-known scholars as Professor Sergei B. Krylov, Professor Mikhail Y. Rapoport, Professor Vladimir F. Meshera, Professor Roman L. Bobrov, Professor Sergei A. Malinin, and Professor Viktor F. Sidorchenko.

The department’s scholars have made a large contribution to creating and developing the field of international law. A Saint Petersburg (Leningrad) school of international law, which is well known both in Russia and abroad, was created through the efforts of several generations of scholars at the department.Throughout the over century and a half of the department's history, a major amount of academic work has been written which have made a significant contribution to the development’of international law.

The department’s graduates have worked and work in various parts of both state and public life both in our country and in many countries abroad, in various positions using the knowledge received in international law. Among the department's graduates are: V.V. Putin, President of the Russian Federation and D.N. Kozak, Director of the G’vernment Apparatus of the Russian Federation.

Department Telephone: +7 (812) 329-28-29
Dept. E-mail: intlaw@jurfak.spb.ru